There is more than $17 million budgeted to be spent on road and infrastructure improvements in 2019, city councillors were told this week.
The “new” council was provided an update and overview of approved capital projects at a priority-setting meeting with senior management team members earlier this week.
While significant time was spent talking about waterfront redevelopment and the progress of the city’s long-anticipated recreation centre, staff also discussed the other projects on the horizon.
The first phase of the reconstruction of Front Street is set for 2019. That $6.5-million initiative will see the completion of the stretch of Front from Queen to Colborne streets. The second phase, planned for 2020, with a price tag of $4.25 million, will include work from Colborne to Neywash streets.
West Ridge Boulevard will be widened to five lanes, at a cost of $2.7 million, in 2019. That work represents the third and final phase of a multi-year agreement between the city and Ontario Ministry of Transportation to improve traffic flow in and around West Ridge.
About $2.5 million of work has also been approved for design and construction of roads and services as part of the expansion of the Horne Business Park, across from Rotary Place. This work will include a new road up toward Harvie Settlement Road and serviced lots that can then be sold.
The city has also earmarked $3.56 million for a sanitary sewage pumping station and roadwork to service the Inch Farm land. The city owns about 10 acres of industrial land in this area – near Uhthoff Line and Murphy Road.
“Half of the Inch Farm is privately owned and has been sold to a developer,” said Ian Sugden, the city’s director of planning and development.
The planned work would pave the way for industry to locate in the area.
About $750,000 will also be spent in 2019 for an environmental assessment and design work needed in advance of the proposed widening and reconstruction of Laclie Street.
Ward 4 Coun. Pat Hehn said many citizens complained about the state of that arterial road during the recent election.
There was some talk about fast-tracking that project, but discussion was deferred to budget deliberations, which will be held in January.
At budget, Sugden said staff will present a 10-year capital plan related to road projects that will include a list of roads, the work to be done and a timeline. At that time, council could re-prioritize any projects.
“I’m excited about the 10-year plan,” said Orillia Mayor Steve Clarke, who believes the document will be a “good guiding tool” for council.
Sugden told council that staff have made a conscious effort in recent years to expand the amount of road and sidewalk work being done.
That trend will continue in 2019. The annual road resurfacing plan will see 2,625 metres of local roads resurfaced at a cost of $718,000. On average, in past years, that amount has been about $500,000.
On top of that, about $410,000 is earmarked for sidewalk work/replacement, which is almost double the average.
“What’s being proposed now is quite a bit more than” previous years, said Sugden, who noted it’s part of a plan to “improve our road network” and “raise the overall condition” of the streets and sidewalks.
In addition to that $17+ million in spending, work will wrap up in 2019 on the $14.5-million tertiary treatment facility under construction at the city’s landfill site.
City councillors were told how this project has been fraught with problems as Andrew Schell, the city’s director of environmental services and operations, provided an update on the facility.
“There have been number of significant issues with the project,” said Schell, noting the drawings the city had to work from dated to 1944. “The structural details were not correct, which led to a lot of challenges and a lot of additional charges.”
Schell said there were also “significant issues” related to groundwater problems. That has not only led to construction challenges but has made it difficult to stay on schedule.
In fact, the project is not on schedule. It was supposed to open last April; now, completion is targeted for June.
“It’s unfortunate,” Schell said of the delayed opening “but that’s where we are today.”
The costly project does not increase the city’s capacity. The sole purpose of the facility is to reduce the phosphorous going into Lake Simcoe. The city received $2.2 million in provincial and federal funding for the project.
Despite the setbacks, Schell said the project is on budget.
