KITCHENER - City council approved the awarding of almost $20 million in tenders Monday to build a 1.3-kilometre extension of Strasburg Road.

Strasburg Road now stops just south of Rush Meadow Street. Extending the street to connect with Robert Ferrie Drive "is a significant project for us," said Chris Spere, Kitchener's manager of construction engineering.

Council approved four tenders Monday totalling $19.3 million. The project is complex for a number of reasons: it runs through rolling terrain that will require a fair bit of earthmoving; it runs through the habitat of two endangered species, and includes a number of elements, including a deep sanitary sewer, a longer-than-normal bridge to avoid intruding into the valley of Strasburg Creek and a special culvert to allow wildlife to cross safely.

The tenders are for the north part of the Strasburg Road extension, the alignment of which has been on the books since 1981.

The more controversial southern section, which runs from Robert Ferrie Drive to New Dundee Road, was the subject of a three-year environmental assessment and is slated to proceed 2023-2025.

Nonetheless, there are several environmental concerns associated with the northern section as well, Spere said.

The area is known habitat for the endangered little brown bat, a once-common species that is important because it eats a number of insects that damage crops. The bat population is plummeting because of a fungus called white nose syndrome that is causing mass die-offs of the bats.

The project will include the installation of bat boxes and bat condos in which the bats can roost, and the creation of habitat with the planting of night-flowering plants, Spere said.

The threatened Blanding's turtle has also been spotted in the area. "There could be one, there could be five. We don't know how many there are," Spere said. "We'll do our best to find out how many there are, where they're moving to and from at various times of year, and we'll do our best to help this species survive," by creating artificial nesting areas and installing special fences to keep animals away from the road.

Coun. Yvonne Fernandes was the only vote against the tenders. She has opposed the roadway, even before she was elected to city council in 2010.

She did however support a $761,000 contract for environmental monitoring on the site for the next five years.

"I feel we will be challenged," Fernandes said. "There's going to be substantial impact on the environmental area that this Kitchener road will be going through."

Coun. Kelly Galloway-Sealock, in whose ward the road is located, urged its approval. "This tender is needed, and it's needed to support important infrastructure in the southwest."

The lack of infrastructure has meant planned schools couldn't go ahead in the area, she said. "Kids are getting bused all over Kitchener. There are kids in one subdivision that are going to three separate Catholic schools."

The project is also unusual because a group of six developers has agreed to pay the cost of extending Strasburg Road up front. Those costs would be credited toward the development charges the city would charge developers when it issues building permits.

The developers hope to build more than 2,000 homes in the area, but those plans are on hold until the road, water and sewer services are in place.

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Construction is expected to start in early November, wrapping up in 2019.

- Developers to front-end Strasburg Road extension