S. Railway redo underway with budget leeway
The first phase of a major remake of South Railway Street is underway beneath Scholten Hill, and it appears there is room in the budget to handle whatever the old road throws at construction crews and engineers.
City planning staff have said replacing underground water and sewer infrastructure as well as road base and surface along the stretch — one of the city’s oldest roads spanning one of the oldest industrial areas — could bring surprises.
In early 2016, they delayed the project one year for additional planning and increased the budget.
Work got underway this week on a two-block stretch up to the intersection with Factory Street.
Alternating traffic is continuing in both directions and there is no expectation of closures. At the same time, businesses will remain open and accessible as construction proceeds in one- to two-block sections over the summer all the way south to Kingsway Avenue.
Local firm MJB Enterprises was awarded the contract in early April when its bid of $7.03 million was the lowest of three formally submitted. That company previously took over portions of complicated projects to replace 100year-old piping in the city’s downtown.
That contract for South Railway is almost $1.9 million below recent construction estimates. The bid documents show $2.8 million remaining in the budget to deal with possible challenges that arise, such as previously unknown environmental contamination or more-difficult-thanexpected construction.
The project is to be paid for by a combination of debt financing and provincial infrastructure grants.
Work contracts awarded
Another local firm Amron Construction has won the contract to replace the slab at the Hockey Hounds Arena this summer.
That project was put on hold for several years as administrators did an overall review of ice facilities offered by the city.
On April 17, council was told Amron’s bid of $597,000 was the lowest of nine companies responding to the tender.