A report slated to go to Brampton City Council on Wednesday recommends the city cancel its major streetscaping and water main replacement project slated to start next year.

Water Main Replacement and Streetscaping Plans

Downtown Brampton’s infrastructure is ageing rapidly and Region of Peel planning back in 2016 to launch a water main replacement project.

The City of Brampton also started looking at revamping downtown and in 2016 staff recommended the Downtown Reimagined project.

Based on feedback from the public the project would revamp downtown streets, bringing the number of vehicle lanes down to one in each direction. It would also add bike lanes in both directions and wider sidewalks on both sides to allow restaurants and cafés to offer patio seating.

As part of the plan, all on-street parking would be removed and accommodated by the various parking garages downtown. This option received high approval in the public engagements done by the city, but isn’t popular among some downtown businesses.

The projects would have closed downtown Brampton’s roads for about 4 years but keep sidewalks open to maintain access to businesses.

Back in 2017 council approved a $28.9 million spend for the project, and construction was expected to start this fall, but it never happened.

The City of Brampton had plans to move the farmers’ market and other major events to Rosalea Park this fall, but that also didn’t materialize.

The Current Staff Recommendation

Staff recommends halting the project because of costs and other key factors.

It says the project was rushed by the previous council and new estimates show the potential for a cost overrun upwards of $25 million, almost double the initial budget.

In 2015 when provincial funding was on the table for Brampton’s portion of the Hurontario Light Rail project, Metrolinx indicated a portion of the funds would be earmarked to fix the water mains and other old infrastructure in the downtown core. But council’s refusal of the LRT through Brampton resulted in the city and the region having to take on the entire burden.

Since the approval of the downtown project, there have also been significant developments in other downtown Brampton projects including the Ryerson University project and Innovation Centre, and condo developments — to name a few.

All of this has resulted in an uncertain situation that figures into staff’s recommendation.

Staff also recommends the city ask the region to postpone the infrastructure replacement until some decisions have been made about major projects downtown. Staff would also provide a report on how to proceed.

Staff is presenting council with three options. In addition to its recommendation to halt both projects, they also suggest council either approve additional funding to see the projects through or put a pause on the streetscaping project and allow the Region of Peel to fix the ageing infrastructure.

To date, about $2.5 million has been spent on the project. Staff says even if the project is halted, the work done so far provides a framework for future projects and so is not wasted.

Council will vote on how to move forward this Wednesday.

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