Beverly Street reconstruction underway

Preparation work is beginning for reconstruction of Beverly Street and the construction of a pedestrian rail underpass.

While tree clearing was expected to begin this month, crews started earlier in the week removing trees from the northeast side of the CP rail bridge.

The Beverly Street underpass project was first brought to council in 2021, but city staff recommended deferring the work to align with the reconstruction of that section of Beverly Street, scheduled for 2023.

In June 2021, the underpass project had an estimated cost of $2.7 million, but the city received no tenders for the work.

Staff sought out tenders and found three contractors with experience working with railway corridors. However, the lowest bid, from Dufferin Contractors, came in at $3.65 million.

With $1.06 million already committed to related costs — including CP Rail fees — the bid was 75 per cent over budget for a $2.05 million deficit.

Funding for the project would have to be drawn from the Gas Tax Reserve Fund and the Capital Works Fund, leaving just $500,000 in the Capital Works Fund for taxsupported capital projects for the remainder of 2021.

Dagmar Construction is now in charge of the entire $10.7-million project, including street reconstruction, and will begin work on April 8. The project came in at $1.4 million over budget.

Installation of a temporary watermain, removals of existing infrastructure and major construction work will begin in early April 2024. The construction is planned to take approximately 140 working days to complete, finishing around the end of November.

Besides the underpass, reconstruction will include replacement of all sanitary sewers, storm sewers, watermains, services to property line, asphalt and curbs, and construction of new multi-use trail.

Dagmar Construction is now in charge of the $10.7-million project, including street reconstruction, and will begin work on April 8