City councillor Ted Laking has called attention to the problems caused by the work on Two Mile Hill during the summer.

The prolonged paving project became “a large irritant for many Whitehorse commuters,” as work took longer than originally planned, Laking pointed out last week.

As construction work was in progress, motorists had to reduce their speed on Two Mile Hill “as smaller vehicles and those with trailers found the road quite rough on their vehicles,” he said.

During council’s Nov. 21 standing committee on operations, Laking raised the issue and asked what work could be done to mitigate similar delays in the future.

In response, city officials confirmed that a contributing factor to the delays were labour and material supply challenges.

However, it was also confirmed that staff are looking at how contracts are designed in order to encourage timelier completion of projects next summer.

“I would like to discuss the item of the pavement work that was done on Two Mile Hill this summer,” Laking said.

“The issue being that there was a gap in time from when the work started to when the work was completed. One of the funnier references I heard is that we turned the road into corduroy.

“So I am wondering if we could get an update from administration on what the issue was related to that work that caused the gap from when work was started to when work was completed,” Laking said.

“Also, what work is being done moving forward for next year to mitigate those types of concerns on future pavement jobs in the city?”

The Two Mile Hill project also caused lengthy northbound traffic jams along Second Avenue and Quartz Road as afternoon commuters used Mountainview Drive as an option to Two Mile Hill to get home.