With nearly $74 million on the way from the province for a massive road project, the city is working to revise its schedule for when work will be done.
There are also escalating costs to complete work on the Connecting Link, a 21.35-kilometre stretch of Highway 101 running from Kamiskotia Road in the west to the old railway tracks in Porcupine.
In 2022, Ontario committed $73.8 million over eight years to help finish the rest of the Connecting Link work in Timmins.
While the final details of that agreement are still being hammered out, Aecom is updating the work schedule to make optimal use of the cash. If all goes well, the project will be done three years ahead of schedule, in 2030 instead of 2033.
The revised plan presented to Timmins council last night (Feb. 28) moves the bigger, more expensive projects up to take advantage of the funding, which is in 2022 dollars, said Brenan Kennedy, Aecom engineer project manager.
“If we can do bigger projects sooner there’s an advantage to that,” Kennedy said.
“The hope is also that larger projects will attract some out-of-town contractors providing competition and better overall pricing."
The work scheduled for this year is Algonquin Boulevard from Wilcox to Cedar Street, and Riverside Drive from Government Road to Shirley Street.
The portion from Wilcox to Mountjoy is work that was slated to be done last year but was not fully completed. It's part of a three-year, $27.9 million contract with R.M. Belanger to reconstruct the main road through the downtown.
The original design for the segment from Mountjoy to Cedar Street also included installing a snowmobile crossing near Hollinger Park. That crossing will now be installed in 2024.
SEE: $27.9-million contract for Algonquin roadwork moving ahead
Councillors asked Aecom and city staff for clarification on the contract already approved and if the work will completed at the original price.
“All the work should be completed under what the existing contract stipulates,” said Kennedy.
Timmins manager of engineering Glen Macdonald confirmed, saying the contract price remains the same.
The work on Riverside includes a new sidewalk on the north side of the road connecting Shirley Street and the Timmins Square to Walmart and Government Road, said Kennedy.
When that work is done, Ward 1 Coun. Rock Whissel asked that heavy truck traffic not be detoured down Sandy Falls Road.
“I think all the money we’ve put in those rural roads are very important to keep,” he said.
The cost of inflation
The cost of the Connecting Link work is escalating.
“As we all know though, the last couple of years inflation has been much more and construction wasn’t spared,” said Kennedy.
Connecting Link started work in 2016 and seven segments worth $32.58 million have been completed so far.
In the past, Kennedy said estimates included five per cent increases every year.
For 2021 and 2022, the construction inflation was 15 per cent each year.
The estimated cost for the remaining work is $105.6 million, not including engineering costs. The last estimate to finish the work was $96.6 million.
“The scope and cost will be obviously subject to change as we work on finalizing our design,” said Kennedy.
The finalized design work is expected next year.
How the funding works
City staff met with the Ministry of Transportation today to continue working through the details of the transfer agreement.
“Speaking from what we’ve talked with them previously, they will fund 90 per cent of a project cost for the year up to an upset limit of about $10 million if I’m remembering that number correctly. So if we only have a $10 million project in one year, they’ll maximum fund $9 (million). If we’re at $15 million, the max they’ll go to would be $10 (million),” CAO Dave Landers told council.
The cash is good for roads and structures, most storm drainage work, illumination at intersections, utility relocations and traffic signals that are warranted.
“It does not, unfortunately, cover property acquisition costs, costs for watermains, sanitary sewers, additional sidewalks, illumination not at intersections and some other utility work,” said Kennedy.
While Kennedy said that the design work is a living document and a project could be moved up or down in priority, Landers said once set, there will be a "fairly rigid schedule."
"In terms of shuffling the deck a little bit on when pieces of the Connecting Link get done, I believe that they (the province) need to approve the construction plan as well. So if we are going to change that sort of thing up that might be a transfer payment agreement addendum that we might have to do, which might not be that easy,” he said.
Revised work schedule
The proposed revised work schedule beyond 2023 is:
- 2024
- Algonquin Boulevard from Cedar Street to Brunette. This segment includes removing the overpass.
- Mattagami and Porcupine river bridges
- 2025 - Highway 101 from Crawford Street to the bridge in Porcupine. The last work revision moved this segment up in priority and changed it to a two-year project instead of one year to install a new distribution watermain. Right now there is only one water line servicing the area east of Crawford. When there's a break on it, all of the water is shut down. The 2023 revision moves it back to a one-year project and rehabilitating the watermain lining instead. The city says the water and wastewater budget includes installing a a new watermain on Crawford to Ferguson to give a second line and backup to the community.
- 2026
- Algonquin Boulevard from Brunette Road to Highway 655
- Algonquin Boulevard from Highway 655 to Father Costello Drive
- 2027 - Riverside Drive from Shirley Street to the Mattagami Bridge
- 2028 - Highway 101 from Father Costello Drive to east of Goldale Street
- 2029
- King Street from Porcupine River bridge to the train tracks
- Harold from Legion Drive to Crawford Street
- 2030 - Highway 101 from Kamiskotia to Government Road
The update did not include new individual cost estimates for each segment of work.
