Building Great Neighbourhoods - Eastwood/Elmwood Park

During construction, Canada Post may choose to temporarily suspend mail delivery. If you are not receiving your mail but have not received a suspension notification, please call Canada Post customer service at 1-800-267-1177.

• Marking all underground sprinkler systems
• Removing plants and flowers before construction so they do not get damaged
• Pulling back any mulch, rocks or landscaping alongside the City sidewalk

If you have special access requirements, such as DATS, please advise the Delivery Project Manager, Catherine Eggum, during construction as soon as possible.

Typically, a street will be under construction for 2 -3 weeks. However there may be some items like landscaping and roadway paving that take a bit longer. This is because it is more economical to do larger areas at a time. To complete all work items in front of your house, it could take up to 8 weeks.

In certain areas, the City and EPCOR will be constructing Low Impact Development (LID) to help reduce the effects of surface flooding. Construction of LID varies on the size and complexity. A large area, such as a whole block could take a month to install, in addition to the other construction activities.

During construction there may be times when the street may be open for traffic and others where it may be reduced. Prior to any construction starting on a street, the contractor will deliver notices of the coming work. This notice and any street signage will let you know when any closures are intended to happen.

Access to businesses, residences and alleys will be maintained where possible. All residents are asked to access their homes through the alleys during construction (where possible). If you have specific access requirements, such as DATS, please advise the Delivery Project Manager, Catherine Eggum. Emergency access will be maintained at all times.

The lawn and landscaping at the front of your property on the City right-of-way will be disturbed during the construction of sidewalks. When we remove the old sidewalk, we take away about 50cm to 1m of sod on the back edge of the sidewalk.

A space is created to put the forms in place to pour the new sidewalk. This could mean that part of your landscape may be impacted. We will let you know in advance if we need anything moved. We may need to remove part of the connection from the public sidewalk to your house. If we do, this will be replaced.

The public sidewalk is poured first, followed by the connection links to private sidewalks and driveways. If the sidewalk is poured and the sod has not been placed yet, we are just waiting for a larger area to work on. It is more cost effective to sod a larger area at one time.

Once the sod has been laid, we encourage you to water the sod regularly to promote healthy growth. Pulling weeds before they mature and spread seeds is very helpful.

The City places significant importance on the protection and preservation of trees in neighbourhoods.

The design and construction of sidewalks and other infrastructure incorporates the need to protect trees and construction may be adjusted to accommodate this. This may include constructing sidewalks around tree roots to preserve the health of the tree.

The City is committed to providing a safe and integrated mobility network that is not just for people who drive. Sidewalks provide linkages to key destinations such as schools, businesses, shopping and transit both within a neighbourhood and between neighbourhoods.

By providing routes for people to use that are not just a road, there are other potential benefits which include reduced road maintenance (potholes and snow clearing), reduced greenhouse gas emissions, ability to age in place, better public health, safer and more vibrant streets.

The sidewalks also support The City Plan and it's goal of making active transportation a preferred choice for more people making it possible for the transportation system to move more people more efficiently in fewer vehicles.

In addition the design adheres to the Complete Streets Guidelines (37MB) which promote a network that provides travel options for users of all ages and abilities that are safe, universally designed, context sensitive, and operable in all seasons (including winter). These options accommodate the needs of the present and future and contribute to the environmental sustainability and resiliency of the city.

Other neighbourhoods may only have sidewalks on one side of the road due to different and unique technical challenges of the time, and older City Design and Construction Standards. 

Eastwood and Elmwood Park will be built with the most recent standards, to ensure the infrastructure remains current and relevant for the next 40 years.

Property owners pay 50% of the cost of sidewalk reconstruction based on the length of sidewalk in front of your property for a typical rectangular lot. Different shaped lots have a different method to calculate the cost. The exact cost for the Local Improvement will be included on your tax notice the year following the sidewalk reconstruction.