A long-awaited pedestrian tunnel under the railway crossing Beverly Street won't arrive without over $1.4 million in added costs.
At next week's council meeting, city staff will recommend Dagmar Construction Inc. of Ajax for the now $10.7 million project that in addition to the pedestrian underpass includes full underground infrastructure — renewal of a dual use watermain, sanitary and storm sewers — road renewal, intersection improvements and new multi-use trail.
The underpass on Beverly has been a high priority pedestrian safety concern for decades, forcing pedestrians and cyclists to jockey with passing vehicles in the narrow tunnel.
The city planned to initiate a two-stage construction project to complete the pedestrian underpass and multi-use trail installation in 2021 followed by the remaining road reconstruction and infrastructure renewal works in 2023.
But when tender results for the 2021 project closed at nearly 75 per cent over the available budget, the city decided to defer the work until 2023 as a single combined project.
As part of the 2023 budget process, council provided pre-approval to proceed with early tendering of the project with the hope it would be substantially complete this year.
But when the Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway stalled on its response around agreements due to an error, the project couldn't go to tender in the spring of 2022.
City staff believe the one-year delay in tendering the project is responsible for about half of the project's $1.4 million budget overrun.
Council will be asked Tuesday to consider a revised funding plan to deal with the added costs. It includes using money from the city's development charges roadway reserve fund and other reserves to pay for the overage.
