Asphalt resurfacing contract upped to $4.56M and awarded

North Bay City Council has awarded a $4.56-million contract for the City of North Bay's 2023 Asphalt Resurfacing Program to Pioneer Construction Inc.

The scope of this year's program has widened with the reconstruction of McGibbon Street moved up to this year from 2024 and work on the McKeown Avenue project pushed until next year. The City originally issued a request for tender for a $3.6 million program with plans to repave 23 sections of roadway this year before expanding this year's program to $4.56 million.

According to the associated staff report, "the tendering of the McKeown project will be delayed to a point where no material construction would be able to be completed in 2023. The reconstruction of McGibbon Street was forecasted to be completed under the 2024 resurfacing contract, and with the delay of McKeown, in order to maximize the utilization of available resources and approved funding in the capital budget, the reconstruction of McGibbon was moved forward from 2024 to 2023. The addition of McGibbon Street resulted in an increase to the overall 2023 Asphalt Resurfacing program."

See related: North Bay's worst road to undergo upgrades, repairs in 2024

Coun. Lana Mitchell, the chair of the infrastructure and operations committee noted an organized Public Works department made the swap of the projects possible while staying within the total budget over the next two seasons.

To fund the extra work, the council also approved the reallocation of $1,163,000 to the 2023 Asphalt Resurfacing Project from the McKeown Avenue
Widening to Capital Project. Council also committed to replacing that funding from the McKeown project in the 2024 Capital Budget.

The City of North Bay's 2023 Asphalt Resurfacing Program List:

• Golf Club Road from 55m North Airport Road – O'Brien Street (Pulverize and pave)
• Booth Road from 30m south of Bunting Drive to ~130m (Pulverize and pave)
• Janice Street from Ski Club Road – McKeown Avenue (Pulverize and pave)
• Lamorie Street from Bridge – Legion entrance (Pulverize and pave)
• Mattawa Street from Harriet Street – Main Street West (Pulverize and pave)
• Tackaberry Drive from Birchwood Road – Parkwood Drive (Pulverize and pave)
• Mulligan Street from Talon Street – Beaver Crescent ~200m (Pulverize and pave)
• Princess Street West from Fraser Street – Ferguson Street (Pulverize and pave)
• Strathcona Drive from Van Horne Crescent – MacDonald Avenue East (Pulverize and pave)
• Third Avenue West from Ferguson Street – Fraser Street (Pulverize and pave)
• Pearce Street from Greenhill Avenue – Daziel Street (Mill and pave)
• Rancier Street from Dellandrea Drive – Bolton Drive (Mill and pave)
• Wyld Street from Oak Street East – McIntyre Street East (Mill and pave)
• Fodor Street from Lakeshore Drive – Whitney Avenue (Mill and pave)
• Bloem Street from Algonquin Avenue – Browning Street (Mill and pave)
• Scollard Street from Browning Street – Beattie Street (Overlay)
• Dane Avenue from Frost Street – Harrison Street (Overlay)
• Lake Heights Road from Sage Road – Melina Close (Overlay)
• McIntyre Street West from Harvey Street – Durril Street (Full asphalt depth removal and pave)
• High Street from Chippewa Street West – Olive Street West (Full asphalt depth removal and pave)
• Carmichael Drive from 300m south of Airport Road – Voodoo Crescent (Partial reconstruction — Gran ‘A’ and Asphalt)
• Burns Street Part 1 from Greenwood Avenue – Elmwood Avenue (Full Reconstruction — Gran ‘A’ & ‘B’ and Asphalt)
• Burns Street Part 2 from Maplewood Avenue - Tackaberry Drive (Full Reconstruction — Gran ‘A’ & ‘B’ and Asphalt)
• McGibbon Street reconstruction

The list of candidates for rehabilitation is developed through an established Road Matrix Program that is quantitative and objective and updated on a four- or five-year cycle by a third party.

The roads are driven and scored quantitatively based on the following criteria:

• Riding comfort
• Noise
• Cracking
• Stress

Roads are then ranked based on that score and in conjunction with their traffic usage — is the road arterial, a collector, residential or rural.

The City also utilizes geotechnical analysis, in concert with the classification of the road to inform the type of treatment that will be undertaken. The types of treatments that are normally undertaken through the re-surfacing program include:

• Mill and pave
• Pulverize and pave
• Overlay
• Reconstruct

Typically, major reconstructions are addressed as standalone projects that may also address other linear infrastructural needs.

In addition, as part of the resurfacing program, the City also makes use of an ongoing crack sealing element to extend the life of roadways. The crack sealing program optimizes the life cycle of the roads which reduces the City’s impacts on greenhouse gas footprint and is cost-effective. This is in addition to patching and work on rural roads which also takes place annually.