Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 7/9/2017 (1108 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The price tag to convert a stretch of Tache Avenue into a riverside pedestrian walkway has ballooned to $10 million from the $5.188 million Winnipeg city council approved a year ago.

An administrative report to council’s public works committee provides the latest cost estimate for the project, with recommendations on where to find the additional funds to complete the work for fall of 2018.

The report, which is on the agenda for Monday’s committee meeting, states the higher cost is the result of additional riverbank stabilization work that wasn’t anticipated in the original estimate, along with road construction, street lighting, engineering work, unspecified overhead costs and a contingency allowance.

The change to the project budget and additional associated work will require council approval.

Community groups and the local councillor pitched the project to council almost three years ago: the creation of a 2.5-kilometre pedestrian walkway along the St. Boniface side of the Red River facing The Forks, from the Provencher Bridge to the Norwood Bridge.

The Winnipeg Foundation supported the project, committing to contribute $1 million towards the construction of a tree-top lookout. The Winnipeg Arts Council had agreed to commission a $200,000 sculpture to be placed alongside the route — but the administrative report states the arts group has withdrawn its funding commitment.

Council approved a $5.188-million project in the 2017 budget, but the report said that figure was based on a Class 4 estimate, which typically can vary from the final price anywhere from 30 per cent less to 60 per cent more.

The report says the revised $10-million cost is a Class 2 estimate, which can be expected to vary from the actual cost from 10 per cent less to 20 per cent more.

City administration is urging the changes be approved immediately, so that the necessary riverbank stabilization work can be carried out over the winter to ensure the entire project is completed by the fall of 2018, to coincide with celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of the establishment of a Catholic mission in the area that grew into the community of St. Boniface.

The report is also recommending council give authority to the chief administrative officer to award the construction contract without council or committee approval — and giving the CAO authority to fund any further overexpenditures by dipping into the savings realized from other projects that come in under budget.

The report identifies the additional riverbank stabilization work will add $1.5 million to the project — but no other detailed expenses are provided to explain the higher cost.

The report identifies several sources of funding to make up the shortfall, including:

• $1.965 million from a public works non-specified account;

• $1.5 million from the riverbank stabilization program from the years 2015 and 2016;

• $1 million in redirected savings from the Disraeli Bridges project (out of a total expected savings of $1.6 million);

• $500,000 from Canada 150;

• $200,000 from Building Communities Initiative II program, a cost-shared initiative of the city and province.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca