City expects to catch up on restoration work

The City of Brandon says it expects to see ground restorations following a utility repair back on schedule by the end of the year.

The restorations are needed after crews dig up the ground to work on underground pipes or fix leaks. The city has fallen behind on restorations since the pandemic, and there are now hundreds of jobs that need to be done.

“With favourable weather, it looks like we expect to be caught up by the end of the season,” the city’s general manager of operations, Todd Burton, said.

The city started a push last year to get back on schedule. The push has continued into this year, with the city budgeting $165,000 for additional seasonal staff, Burton said.

“We were several years behind in getting this work done, and that really is a long time to be having an unfinished part of a road or sidewalk or curb, or part of your landscaping in place,” Burton said.

Administration made the pitch to council in 2024 that it should fund more staff to get back on schedule.

Burton said once the city is back on track, it will then plan to repair a site within one to three months of it being dug up. That excludes when crews work on a burst pipe in the winter, for example, as the restoration can only be done in the warmer months, which typically start in May.

“Honestly, our crews and our teams that have been working in this have been very excited and very happy with this, because it’s a great level of service to provide to the residents,” Burton said in an interview earlier this month.

“You’re no longer having to wait several years to see the sidewalk in front of you repaired from a water main break.”

The city had fallen behind because it wasn’t running enough crews, Burton said.

Another staff member said that started around the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

“I couldn’t tell you what happened before COVID, but during that time, when we were realizing we were running with two crews, we were not catching up, we were getting farther behind,” Burton said.

Between May 19 and June 2 of this year, crews had completed 18 asphalt, five concrete and two landscaping jobs, Burton said.

In May, the city had a backlog of 87 asphalt, 88 concrete and 39 landscaping jobs, he added.

Some jobs fall into multiple categories, and the numbers continuously fluctuate with additional water main breaks or repairs happening around the city.

Last week, the Sun joined a crew doing a repair in front of a home on Elviss Crescent.

On Monday, crews jackhammered the road, and later repaved it the next day. Barriers for the small section of road stayed in place for a third day to let the paving settle.

Chargehand of streets and roads Chris Jolliffe said it feels nice that crews are making progress.

“You’re getting somewhere with it, you’re not behind, it’s just like you’re actually swimming, you’re not just treading water trying to stay afloat. So, it feels great,” Jolliffe said.

He said crews working on the sites in a timelier fashion also makes for happier residents.

He said he doesn’t see the city getting back to a state where it has a giant backlog.

Burton said the city likely won’t run an upgraded complement of crews for all of next year, but could use some seasonal staff to catch up on the winter digs.

Jordan Werbowski-Webster, an E2 operator for the city who was working on the Elviss Crescent site, said it’s “absolutely” a nice thing to be getting back on track.

“Our list for this year is not as daunting as it’s been in years past,” he said.

Typically his crew likes to get one full patch completed every day, weather permitting.

Tuesday’s work included digging, prepping, rolling, oiling and paving the site.

The Elviss Crescent work was necessary because of a water main break in July 2025.

Most restoration work is simple, he said, especially as he’s been working on sites for the last eight years.

The other times, including when it’s in the middle of an intersection or the restoration is a weird shape, can make it “pretty involved for crews, he said.

The reason crews won’t work on a site immediately after it has been torn up, Werbowski-Webster said, is because the ground might shift and settle.

Burton said the city typically sees about 100 digs per year. A portion of that is because of the age of the city’s underground pipes, but can also be because of valve replacements or requests to turn water off to a building.

» alambert@brandonsun.com