Work continues on restoring phone and internet service for all of Bell Canada’s customers in Owen Sound.
Only after that work is complete will the city turn its attention to how and why that service was cut off, and what the ramifications might be.
Thousands of telephone lines were severed in a construction mishap on Friday morning, and technicians have been working since then to reconnect those lines and get service back to everyone affected by the incident.
Director of operations John Johnston told council on Monday night that Bell hopes to be finished sometime on Tuesday.
The city’s role right now is to facilitate that work.
He refuses to assess blame now, saying there will be time afterward to determine what happened and why.
Regarding the 9th Street construction project itself, Johnston says there’s no reason to believe it will be delayed by this mishap, although some work may have to be put off until next year.
He says the phone lines are normally encased in a concrete structure, but the existing structure was damaged along with the lines.
If Bell intends to replace it, it will likely be done next year.
Johnston says it means the final coat of asphalt on that section of 9th Street, which is being rebuilt between 2nd Avenue West and 2nd Avenue East, would then have to wait until after that job is done.
But all of the underground services and other important reconstruction work, including the new bridge across the Sydenham River, will be finished as scheduled and the road will be reopened next month.
