A year’s delay in a project to add a right turn lane from Copeland Ave. onto Hwy16, and to replace a section of a waterline underneath the road bed, has resulted in an increase in costs.
Terus Construction was contracted last year at $215,000 “but was not able to start the work before weather timelines were too tight for successful completion,” District of Houston chief administrative officer Michael Dewar outlined in a memo to council in advance of its June 21 meeting.
The project was cancelled and then included in this year’s budget at a construction cost of $226,000 reflecting a five per cent inflation hike from 2021. With other costs, the approved budget came to $317,900.
But when the District spoke to Terus again and to another company, Western Industrial Contractors, only Western Industrial said it was able to do the construction work and at a cost of $313,000.
That raised the projected price tag by $80,000 to $398,750.
Council gave its approval to the cost increase when it met June 21 and it will be covered by taking money from the District’s accumulated surplus.
Council’s approval at its June 21 was key as “the contractor has stated they need a commitment from the District no later than June 22, 2022 in order to complete the work during the 2022 season,” Dewar wrote.
Work is expected to start in July.
The Copeland project will improve traffic access to Hwy16 and better accommodate the increased traffic coming from Tim Hortons and the new Esso service station enterprise, Disrict officials indicated in moving the project forward.
Originally, just the right hand turn lane was to be built but council then accepted a recommendation to replace underground civic works now approaching 60 years old.
“If the widening project proceeds without the watermain replacement, the District could run the risk of having to replace the watermain in the future if a failure occurs,” former District of Houston public works manager Chris Lawrence pointed out in a May 2021 memo to council.