Um, so what about those unfinished road projects?

Looking at those unfinished roadwork projects and all this snow and thinking this can’t be a good situation?

So is the city’s engineering department.

Four projects - March Street, Forest Avenue, London St. and St. Andrews Terr. - still need a base layer of asphalt applied and at least one project needs a final layer of asphalt installed, said Don Elliott, director of engineering services.

But all is not lost, as long as things warm up - even briefly - before the end of the month.

Work could still resume, particularly on projects where no asphalt has been laid as the base course of asphalt only needs 2C weather and unfrozen ground to be completed.

“You really only need a few hours for some of the smaller jobs,” said Elliott.

A rainy October prevented asphalt from being laid, said Elliot.

When it comes to curbs and sidewalks that need concrete installed, he said that work can be done even as the weather turns snowy and cold.

It’s a different matter for a Manitou Park project where that first layer of asphalt has already been put down, leaving manholes sticking up from the surface waiting for a final layer to be laid.

While it isn’t out of the question that crews will get a day where the temperature reaches the 7C level required for that type of job, Elliott said it is possible the job won’t get done.

“We’re in the throes of deciding what to do now,” Elliot told SooToday on Monday.

While a halt at this stage in the game would undoubtedly cause a headache for snow removal crews, all is not yet lost.

While the city would rather it didn’t come to this, if the final layer of pavement isn’t installed before winter the contractor will simply have to break away asphalt around the manholes and lower them by removing one of the two-inch concrete risers underneath, said Elliott.

He said late completion penalties are likely against some of the contractors doing road work for the city.