Saint John drivers will soon see roads resurfaced much quicker once milling operations are completed.

Council has approved adding paving timelines within the city’s annual asphalt resurfacing contracts.

Coun. Gerry Lowe, who introduced the motion, said the milling process leaves roads in an unfinished state, often causing uneven surfaces and hazardous conditions.

“A street gets milled, and sometimes they don’t come and pave it for long periods of time,” Lowe said during a previous meeting.

“I feel that the public should be able to get an answer from somebody, whether it be an engineer or somebody, as to when that street will be paved.”

A city staff report said it is expected that the minimum timeline for standard street resurfacing would be 16 calendar days from the start of milling.

Roadways that require a lot of structure adjustments or new concrete curbs and sidewalks would see longer timelines in the range of 23 to 30 days.

Staff would set specific timelines for each street included in the contracts, and contractors would be charged $2,000 for each calendar day the work remains incomplete after the deadline.

Contractors would be able to request an extension for issues that are beyond their control, such as infrastructure failure during milling operations and poor weather.

Deputy Mayor John MacKenzie said this is a “very important motion” and thanked Lowe for bringing it forward.

“You might get a little bit lower cost on a project if you say, you know, take as long as you like, don’t worry about it, but that cost is transferred over to the citizens,” said MacKenzie.

Last year, MacKenzie said there were a number of streets that were left unpaved for months after they were milled.

Coun. Paula Radwan said she is concerned about the potential for increased costs related to the new timelines.

The staff report said the increased service level could mean higher costs, but the specifics are not yet known as this is the first year with the new timelines.

“I really worry about our infrastructure deficit because it’s already so high. With that said, at the same time, people are having their cars beat up because they’re trying to go over these milled roads,” said Radwan.

Chief Engineer Michael Baker said he believes introducing these new timelines this is the best way to balance the two.

“It’s one of the ways that we can use to try and keep the contractor working on our streets, on our projects, and not moving to other areas to complete their work,” said Baker.