It's not quite a holiday season miracle, but the price tag on the Waverley underpass has dropped again.

A new report to council's finance committee pegs the projected cost of the southwest underpass south of Taylor Avenue at $98 million.

That's down from an original project budget of $156 million, which was ratcheted down to $121 million in late 2017.

The city lists a number of reasons for what's now expected to be a $58-million project surplus. Some of the risks associated with the project didn't materialize, two hydro lines did not have to be moved, construction costs proved to be lower than expected and the city wound up using a cheaper type of rail bridge for the CN tracks above the underpass.

"The adopted budget conservatively carried a more costly bridge type because at the time CN had not agreed to all details of the project," the city explains in a report.

It's unclear whether the city can access any of the surplus money from the project, whose cost is shared with Ottawa and Manitoba. The city was planning to borrow money to pay for most of its portion.

The Waverley underpass is expected to be completed in 2020.