The sale of the land, previously housing the Dionne home and Chamber of Commerce, has caused a delay in the reconstruction of the Seymour St.- Highway 11/17 intersection, but it appears tenders for the work will be going out soon.
The 1.65-acre parcel of land has been bought by Grant Castle Corp., a gas station developer, for approximately $1.6 million. The company took ownership of the land June 1.
See: Dionne museum land sold to developers for $1.68 million
A staff report to council says over the past seven years the project has started, delayed and re-started due to numerous factors but the most significant reasons relate to scope change, document review and personnel changes at the Consultant, City of North Bay and the Ministry of Transportation.
"The most recent delay has been attributed to the land sale at the south west corner of Seymour and Hwy 11/17. The future usage of this lot was never included in the original traffic impact study requiring an update to that document. The updated traffic study recommends an additional eastbound left turn lane and extension of a second westbound through lane to the west side of the entrance for the sold lot," says the report.
Council is being asked to approve a proposal of $112,886.00 for completing additional scope of work on project as a result of the revised traffic impact study and to approve a contingency allowance of $50,000 to permit an engineering company to respond to Ministry of Transportation comments, provide contract document revisions and assist with the tendering process.
In 2010 a report said that the Seymour Street and Hwy 11/17 intersection required widening and left turn lanes to accommodate increased development in the area and the associated surge in traffic. things have only got worse over the last seven years.
The estimated construction cost for the widening of the Seymour and Hwy11/17 intersection including the recommendations from the updated traffic impact study is $5,300,000.
The Ministry has committed to an approximate 50% cost sharing for the project resulting in a total estimated cost attributed to the City of North Bay before taxes of $233,370.75 for detailed design and $2,650,000.00 for construction.
