Could the city's narrowest street also be its friendliest?

It isn’t often a road reconstruction project leaves people feeling this good.

Reconstruction of Biggings Avenue - one of the Sault’s oldest streets and probably its narrowest - is now complete.

“It’s a street that a lot of contractors didn’t want to do because it’s so narrow,” said Eldon Warren, an EllisDon payloader operator in conversation with SooToday on Monday.

Contracting giant EllisDon won the $4.5-million contract to reconstruct Biggings Avenue last year.

Reconstruction of Biggings Avenue, a residential side street that connects Wellington St. E. and Queen St. E., involved contractors ripping up the street’s old surface, digging down as deep as four metres (13 feet) to install a new watermain in cooperation with PUC Services Inc., refilling the long, deep trench and giving the street a smooth new layer of asphalt as well as new sidewalks.

The job required contractors to dig right to the foundations of residents’ homes on the narrow street.

"Some people’s porches were hanging over our holes,” Warren said.

EllisDon crews had to make walking paths at the rear of the street’s houses so that residents could get to and from their homes and allow Fire Services or Emergency Medical Services to get to the homes if necessary.

Residents parked their vehicles within barriers along Queen Street East and Wellington Street East during the course of the project.

However, work crews and residents established a rapport throughout it all.

“The people on the street made us meals. It was a great street to work on,” Warren said.

“We were up to the job. It was a little time consuming but we got it done. The public helped us get it done. We developed a very good relationship with everybody on the street. We had lunches and dinners with them. They still want us to visit and pop in,” said contractor Reg ‘Moose’ Tegosh. 

“The street is so narrow but the public was good. It was a tight knit job. Everyone was happy on the street and now everyone’s even happier that it’s all done,” said brother and fellow contractor Chris ‘Bunz’ Tegosh.

“It was an inconvenience especially when I was walking my dog. It was an obstacle course. But look at what we have now. It was great saying hello to these guys every day and the street’s a hundred times better,” said Biggings Avenue resident Carole Swinn.

EllisDon payloader Eldon Warren said the work done by the Tegosh brothers - experienced pipelayers - was another factor that made the project a pleasant one.

“Every company wants them,” Warren said.

“They’re so good at what they do. Every other guy I lay pipe with, it takes them hours longer in one day to lay as much pipe as these guys do. It’s just amazing. It’s all about teamwork. When you work with them you feel like you’re almost a family. That’s the key. When you’ve got a good crew, production's high and working with these guys is fun all the time.”

“We tied into the pipe our father did on Wellington Street East 15 years ago and at the other end my brother and I tied into pipes we laid down on Queen Street. You know you’re getting old when you start tying into your own pipes,” smiled ‘Bunz’ Tegosh.

Work on Biggings Avenue began in May 2023.

New pipes had been installed by Nov. 30.

Local contractor Ellwood Robinson Inc. laid down the new layer of asphalt on the road surface and sidewalks on both sides of the streets as well as installing new steps - both concrete and wooden - at many of the street’s 47 houses.

The project was officially completed and reopened to traffic on Friday but crews are still on hand this week performing final landscaping touches - such as laying down new turf - to some residents’ properties.

Motorized traffic on Biggings Avenue is one way from the north on Wellington St. E. to the south on Queen St. E.