Expressway budget jumps $10 million
July 8, 2006

A report going to council on Wednesday says that higher than expected paving costs have pushed up the total Red Hill Creek Expressway bill by $10 million, contradicting reassurances issued six weeks ago by the project manager. The staff update also details $5.4 million arrangements with a Six Nations company to grow and plant trees and shrubs in and near Red Hill Valley.

The paving contract with Dufferin Construction for $30.3 million "is approximately $7.9 million higher than staff expected", according to the report. That's more than double the price jump reported in late May by acting Red Hill project director Chris Murray.

On May 29, Murray told councillors on the expressway implementation committee that the paving bid was "about $4 million higher than what we thought would come in when we looked at late summer last year." And at that point, Murray was referring to a bid that was $600,000 higher than the final amount.

At the May meeting, Murray had also reassured councillors that the overall expressway budget would not increase. Noting that the 2006 budget pegs the expressway bill (including the Lincoln Alexander Parkway) at $429 million, Murray said, "I don't think at this point in time we're talking about anything in terms of a significant increase to our budget overall."

This week's report prepared jointly by Murray and a finance department staff person, pushes that budget figure up by $9,995,000 to over $439 million. That's $40 million higher than the figure given for the two expressways in the 2003 city budget documents. All the increase has come in the valley project which now stands at slightly under $247 million. That figure doesn't include the cost of the interchange at the QEW which is being paid for directly by the provincial government.

However, the report maintains that the $10 million jump will have no impact on property taxes. Instead, staff say that $2.6 million will come from the sale of unspecified lands not needed for the expressway, and a further $1.6 million will be charged to the regular roads budget to cover the cost or repaving King Street and Queenston Road where they cross Red Hill Valley.

The source of the remainder is identified as "MTO - Construction Costs / Property" - an apparent reference to monies Murray says are owed to the city by the provincial Ministry of Transportation.

"We are owed money by the Ministry of Transportation with respect to properties that were purchased some time ago which they're going to be compensating us for", Murray explained at the May 29 meeting, citing lands near Nash Road and along the QEW.

At that meeting, Murray also identified two other sources of money to balance increased costs, neither of which is mentioned in this week's written report to council. One was "fairly sizeable contingencies which to this point in time certainly have been properly managed and those dollars can roll back into the completion of this project."

He also said "we fully expect the Ministry of Transportation to participate in our landscaping or ecological restoration work." The latter appears to be $525,000 - the amount this week's report says the city will bill the MTO out of a $5.4 million contract with a Six Nations company that is being hired to grow and plant 110,000 trees for ecological restoration work.

The newly-formed Grand River Employment and Training Inc., is being hired for what "should result in the establishment of a million or more trees and shrubs and restore natural habitat areas of the Red Hill Valley Watershed," says the report. " In the end, approximately 60 hectares of created or enhanced habitat will be restored in the Valley and Lake Ontario shoreline area".

The $5.4 million price tag is less than half the $11.6 million predicted when the city signed an agreement with Six Nations in May 2004.

The full report to council is on the city website at http://www.myhamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyres/BE87C2A4-F9BE
-4D79-92E9-790AF95F7AE0/0/Jul12PW06087_FCS06075.pdf.

It will be debated at the committee of the whole meeting on Wednesday morning, with ratification of the decision to follow later in the day at the city council meeting scheduled to immediately follow the committee meeting. A CATCH report on the May 29 expressway implementation committee can be found at http://www.hamiltoncatch.org/others/other_060529express.htm.