Pavement expert says Red Hill asphalt was ‘concerning,’ city ignored advice

The public inquiry into the Red Hill Valley Parkway’s (RHVP) safety continued on Thursday.

During the six years that a friction report showing that the parkway was below U.K. standard was buried, there were 200 crashes and four deaths on the RHVP.

The public heard detailed testimony from Ludomir Uzarowski, an engineer who specializes in pavement.

Uzarowski has been involved with the roadway since the start. He warned the City and Dufferin Construction in 2007 that the asphalt slated to be used on the Red Hill Valley Parkway was concerning; but they went ahead and paved the roadway, anyway.

According to Uzarowski another test strip should have been conducted. Dufferin Construction was ready to pave the roadway and they started the project on August 1st, 2007.

The hearing also presented an email from a City of Hamilton staffer to Dufferin Construction, giving them the go-ahead to pave the parkway, saying that the requirements had been met.

Quality control engineer Uzarowski should have been included in the email but he said he didn’t even know about it.

Uzarowski told the hearing that he wanted to run friction tests on the paved road and the city agreed, but city staff never issued a request to the Ministry of Transportation for the testing.

The public hearing will continue on Monday and will go on for months.

Phase two of this inquiry, which is set to begin in the fall, will examine whether the pavement on the Red Hill played a role in the crashes and deaths on the parkway.