Wiarton downtown big dig scaled back

Wiarton’s big dig is going to be a little smaller.

On Tuesday, South Bruce Peninsula council gave the green light on a scaled down version of its Berford Street reconstruction projects after bids for the work came in at about twice the estimate.

“Basically what we did is we decided to pare the project down to something within our budget,” Mayor Janice Jackson said Wednesday.

“I was thrilled because I thought we were going to lose the project when the numbers came back so high.”

The municipality plans to go ahead with work that will see the reconstruction of Berford Street from Division Street, south to George Street, which makes up two blocks of the downtown core.

The original plan was to reconstruct four blocks of Berford Street, all the way from Division Street, south to Elm Street, but Jackson said part or all of the remaining work may be done in a future phase when the town could possibly apply for more funding.

The revised project is estimated to cost about $10 million, to be funded through a combination of a provincial connecting link grant, gas tax funds and other grants as well as funds the town has been socking away in reserves for infrastructure work, with the overall total available totalling $11.3 million.

“If we can stay in at $11.3 million we don’t have to debenture,” said Jackson. “The project is estimated at $10 million, but there is always surprises and the unexpected.”

The replacement of water and sewer pipes under a stretch of Berford Street is the main reason for the project.
The work will give the downtown a new street, sidewalks, street lighting, traffic signals and furniture, hydro wires relocated underground and finishing touches using local stone.

“This project is going to mean everything to Wiarton,” Jackson said. “I think with everybody pulling together and finding a way to get it done is just a breath of fresh air.”

Originally the town had budgeted $7.3 million for the project, but the estimated cost climbed to more than $8 million, with $3 million to be covered through the Ministry of Transportation’s connecting link program.
But when the original tenders closed on March 30, two bids had been received and both were about double the approved budget for the project.

Not wanting to cancel the project, town staff and the municipality’s consultant reviewed the job in hopes of finding ways to lower the cost. One reconsideration was to do the whole four blocks of work at once rather than two blocks at a time, designed to cause less disruption to the main street businesses.

But when the new bids were received earlier this month, they once again came back at about double the forecasted cost for the project.

The lowest bid from Brantford Engineering and Construction, came in at just over $15.2 million.

Jackson said the contractor that will be overseeing the project has not yet been finalized since they have reduced the scope of the work. Staff are currently working out the details, Jackson said, adding that because the work has been scaled back, the majority of it should be completed this summer.

The RFP called for the work to begin June 1. Jackson admitted that is a short timeframe, but she remains hopeful it will get going soon.

“We are still planning to start on June 1. It is only 10 days away and we have a lot of work to do between now and then but that is the plan,” she said.