Council OKs new culvert on Flett Street

Culvert being replaced with two new ones; cost-sharing with DTI remains unclear

Miramichi city council has voted to replace the failed culvert on Flett Street with two new ones. (FREE PRESS PHOTO)

---

MIRAMICHI - The city will replace a collapsed culvert in the former village of Nelson that’s resulted in a detour through an old mill site, although it’s unclear if the municipality and provincial government will cost-share on the project.

At the June 17 meeting, city council unanimously approved a plan to replace the faulty culvert on Flett Street with two new culverts.

The vote followed a discussion about whether the provincial Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DTI) would contribute to the culvert replacement costs. Engineering director Mark Buckingham said the city’s consultant has advised his department that DTI has done its own inspection and damage assessment of the faulty culvert.

DTI will take ownership of the new culverts after they’re installed.

“We haven’t had any discussions with them during the design phase about cost-sharing on the project and how we’ll turn it over to them,” he said. “Once that happens, we’ll share an update with council.”