Bethune St. plan adjusted

City councillors agree it’s too costly after all to bury electrical lines during Bethune St. reconstruction

City council is still planning to convert Bethune St. into a linear park meant primarily for cyclists, over the next few years, but it doesn’t look as though the overhead electrical wires will be buried after all.

Council has already approved a $40-million design to turn the street into a park. The plan is to transform the street after they dig it up to install a new sewer main.

There’s no use putting the street back together exactly as it looks now, council decided last year – they voted for this linear park concept, designed by the Whitby firm AECOM.

But on Monday council decided to leave out a piece of the design – the electrical wires won’t be buried after all. That’s because a new report says it would cost an additional $13.7 million to do.

It was too much for council – although they asked city staff to write a detailed report explaining why it would cost so much. That new report is expected in about six weeks.

Wayne Jackson, the city’s utility services director, said the reason it’s so expensive is that the wires along Bethune St. are a high voltage main line.

“It’s $13 million we don’t have, at this point,” said Coun. Dean Pappas.

Coun. Keith Riel said he was disappointed they were “bastardizing ” the design, but the city really does lack the money.

Coun. Henry Clarke asked Jackson whether they would need to cancel some other city construction project in order to pay for the burial of overhead wires, and Jackson said yes.

Jackson also said there’s no option of burying some of the wires now and burying others later, when the money’s available.

“This is a situation where you do it now or you don’t do it,” he said.

It’s a shame not to do it now, said Coun. Dave Haacke. “But I don’t think we have the money.”

Another change adopted by city councillors – but not debated – was a plan to allow car traffic to continue flowing along Brock St. The idea of putting a cul-de-sac at Brock St. was nixed.

The cul-de-sac had been designed to keep cars from crossing the cycling track on Bethune St., but then cars and buses wouldn’t be able to access Hutchison House museum easily.

The Bethune St. project could begin this year and take eight years to complete.