Reconstruction of Russell Drive might be necessary, but it's going to cost more than the city expected. The pre-tender estimate for the project was $522,000, but the only bid came in at $702,916 from Federowich Construction.
Trent Mandzuk, Director of Public Works, explains that the initial estimate of $522,000 was based on comparable reconstruction projects within the city in previous years. The project was also tendered with the Water Treatment Plant parking lot to increase the scope of work in the hopes of receiving better unit pricing.
Discussions with the contractor indicated that fuel price increases, longer haul distances, shortages of quality aggregate and extremely wet soil conditions all contributed to the increases in costs associated with the projects, Mandzuk says. He argues that postponing the project will not see the costs decrease.
The situation on Yorkton's roads, especially on the east side of the city, will see some changes in the priorities for the public works department. Mandzuk explains that while the summer is normally spent resurfacing roads, the priority this year has shifted to localized repair.
"With the amount of potholes and road repairs that we're seeing this year, we're going to shift away from a recap program this year and move towards a localized repair program. There is a numerous amount of potholes this year, probably more than the past 10 years," he says.
The extra funds necessary to move ahead with the project will be taken out of the Public Works Operational budget.
Councillor Les Arnelien expressed some concern that diverting the funds might see a budget shortfall in the operational budget, especially considering the sheer amount of work needed in the city. Mandzuk notes that the work needs to be done, and nothing will be gained by delaying it.
Mandzuk also credits City Engineer Gord Shaw with developing new engineering standards for the city's roads. He says the roads currently failing were developed without those standards, which is why they are having problems so soon after construction. With new engineering standards, he says that the redone roads should be more able to stand up to weather.
Council approved the Federowich bid and the extra $228,000 will be sourced from the Public Works Operating budget.
