The cost of a planned big dig to extend a major south London roadway has risen nearly 70 per cent, a new city hall report shows.
The cost of a planned big dig to extend a major south London roadway has risen nearly 70 per cent, a new city hall report shows.
The capital budget for a long-planned extension of Bradley Avenue was approved at $11.9 million more than a decade ago, to be funded mostly from development charges because it is considered a growth project. Construction was scheduled for 2023.
But the price tag to extend Bradley from White Oak to Wharncliffe roads – plus an expansion just east of that area, from White Oak Road to Jalna Boulevard – is now topping $20 million.
“This has been a long-awaited project to alleviate some heavy traffic congestion and to connect in with active transportation networks,” Ward 12 Coun. Elizabeth Peloza, who represents the area, said.
“There’s all new builds in this area, there’s employment. We have bus routes but no sidewalks.”
Peloza also chairs the civic works committee that will receive a report about an extra study completed for a small portion of the project – the White Oak Road to Jalna Boulevard segment – next week.
If the environmental assessment addendum is approved by council, that stretch of Bradley Avenue will be widened and curbs, sidewalks, lights and bike paths will be added. That part of the larger Bradley Avenue project is pegged at less than $5 million.
Then, it would head to the 2023 budget update.
The price has ballooned because of inflation, but also because portions of the project are more clearly outlined and designed now than they were in the 2005 planning, city staff say.
“The cost increase on construction items, fuel increases, supply issues with some materials, that’s all driving up some of bear pricing we’re seeing for thesis projects,” Garfield Dales, city hall’s manager of transportation planning and design, said.
“Some of the drainage components – there are a couple of major culvert crossings – those are really big components of the project that led to these increases we’re seeing too,” he said.
Other construction projects in London have seen costs soar because of COVID-19 and inflation, including a new watermain on Wonderland Road South and a sewer and road replacement on Wortley Road.
Peloza is eager to see the work happen next year as planned, pointing to the need for sidewalks, lighting and bike paths to keep pedestrians and cyclists safe.
“(There is) a batch of development and growth in the southern part of the city. This section of corridor will really help to address the mobility needs,” Dales said.