The city is sinking more money into road resurfacing this year, but the price of asphalt will prevent them from completing everything on their to-do list.
City Council awarded Pioneer Construction Inc. the contract for over $4.5 million worth of road work on Monday night, which is expected to get underway in the next few weeks.
But the lowest estimated tender price for the amount of work the city wanted to accomplish this year was $5.83 million, far exceeding the allocated budget.
According to a report from city staff, the unit rate for asphalt has increased by 12 per cent over last year, compared to just a one per cent jump in the previous year.
As a result of the steep climb in price, the city is having to defer and delay a number of projects on their wish list for now.
“It always hurts to say you’re not going to be able to do as much as you wanted to do,” said Coun. Tanya Vrebosch, the chair of Engineering and Works, “but we still have to look at the positive side - we’re still doing more than we have done in the past and we’re going to do it better.”
Some of the projects outlined in the contract include the Sportsfield Complex Development ($27,348), trail and supporting surfaces rehab ($118,495), and two rural road rehab projects ($646,191).
But the bulk of the price is going towards general asphalt resurfacing projects throughout the city, which include pulverizing, milling, paving, granular shouldering and gutter replacement ($3.8 million).
The city is anticipating that the quality of work that does get done will be higher though.
Vrebosch explained that their specification for the ongoing projects was changed to improve the performance and life span with a higher level of asphalt.
“Part of this year is we’re doing our own study based on the quality of asphalt that we do have,” she added. “Not every road has the newer asphalt, but we are watching to see does it make a difference.”
In an attempt to better withstand the volatility of the Northern Ontario climate, Vrebosch said the city is experimenting with a new adhesive between asphalt layers and adding a fabric reinforcement between the new and old asphalt on some projects to prevent new cracks and potholes.
The increased price and the quality mean the city will be paying an average of $103 per tonne.
It was a little bit of a shocker, but there are some extra things in there,” she explained. “There’s some accountability on the contractor side and we’ll hopefully be getting a better product and we’re adding more to it to get a longer life span.
“From what I’m hearing, all of the extra things we’re doing should enhance the life span of the asphalt,” she added. “Is it worth the money though? It’s a wait-and-see kind of game."
Vrebosch compared their decision to Timmins, Ont., which is monitoring its choice to buy a superior quality asphalt in 2015.
“I think we’re going to kind of work together within the North to say who’s doing what and what’s working and what’s not,” said Vrebosch. “We’re all in the same boat.”
An asset management plan commissioned by the city in 2015 reported that there was a $22.7 million shortfall in 10-year capital funding, the bulk of which was attributed to roads, bridges and storm sewer infrastructure.
Ongoing road resurfacing projects were originally earmarked at $3.5 million in the 2016 capital budget.
But Coun. Derek Shogren successfully lobbied his colleagues to inject an additional $500,000, boosting the total to over $4 million, the most the city has spent in recent memory.
City staff have already started completing remedial work on some projects that were left over from last year’s budgeted repairs.
Once Monday night’s tender approval passes through the final readings of council in two weeks and city staff determine the priority of the projects, Pioneer Construction Inc. will be able to get underway on the new projects too.
Council also approved a separate $295,600 contract to Battano Construction Ltd. on Monday night for curb and sidewalk replacement projects throughout the city.
