KITCHENER — Delays and cost overruns in LRT construction have forced the city to quadruple its 2016 budget for utility relocations, councillors heard Monday.

Kitchener had budgeted $406,000 to relocate gas pipelines in 2016 as part of the construction for the light rail transit system, which is a regional project. But financial planners had to add another $1.3 million for 2016, because the work is proving far costlier, as the work gets pushed into winter.

"The dollar figure just blew me away when I first heard it," said Coun. Frank Etherington, noting that the city is being forced to absorb the costs, even though it has no control over the project or the timelines on the region-led project. "We're being held ransom on this."

And the city is guaranteed to face even more unbudgeted costs on LRT construction. Kitchener will have to pay its share of four more LRT gas relocation projects due to start in 2016, but hasn't set any money aside in its budget because it hasn't received any information about when those projects will go ahead or even a ballpark figure of what they might cost.

Trying to pin down budget numbers when the final numbers are so wildly off target is "brutal", admitted Ryan Hagey, Kitchener's director of financial planning. "That's why we aren't budgeting for those four other projects."

The light rail system, due to begin operating in late 2017, will run on 19 kilometres of track from Conestoga Mall in Waterloo to Fairview Park mall in Kitchener.

Several factors have led to the cost overruns, said Wally Malcolm, director of Kitchener Utilities.

First, the LRT is a design-build project, which means that design work is going on at the same time as construction. Unexpected changes in the field lead to last-minute changes to design, which adds to costs.

Second, the ground beneath the future rail line is crowded with all kinds of infrastructure, especially in the downtown. Whenever workers dig beneath the existing roads, workers encounter everything from old rail ties to disused hydro bunkers, as well as water, sewer, gas, electric and other utilities, all of which adds to the cost of the work.

Efforts to keep some traffic routes open also complicate the work and add costs, Malcolm said. Costs have also risen because the determination to get the project done by late 2017 has pushed work into winter, he said.

"It's just the nature of the beast," said Malcolm.

The city is in talks with the region about how the cost overruns will be shared, Hagey said.

The LRT project is also causing Kitchener council other headaches.

Coun. John Gazzola asked if the city could consider postponing some of its own roadwork, to give frazzled drivers a break as they make their way through the maze of LRT construction.

"I find it extremely difficult to get around our community," Gazzola said. "Our residents are very frustrated. And our businesses."

The city does co-ordinate work with regional construction and LRT construction, said Hans Gross, the city's director of engineering. City plans to repave Halls Lane, for instance, have been put off because there is enough construction going on downtown already, he said.

While it would be possible to delay some repaving, "our reconstruction projects are primarily in the older residential areas, where the infrastructure does need to be replaced." Those local projects affect drivers in the immediate area, but are too localized to cause major traffic snarls, Gross said.

The LRT cost overruns came up as Kitchener councillors worked their way through a 207-page budget document in an all-day session Monday to consider the capital budget, which governs investments in long-term assets such as roads, community centres and computer systems.

The 2016 capital budget includes $96.5 million for 274 projects to be carried out next year. Funding for those projects doesn't require a tax increase beyond the 1.5 per cent increase council considered last week when it discussed the operating budget. Council will approve the final budget on Jan. 18.

The 2016 budget includes funding for several new projects: $750,000 for improvements to the section of the Iron Horse Trail from Victoria to Queen streets, $1.9 million for a new snow dump, $2.5 million to rebuild Kiwanis Park pool, $810,000 to begin development of a park along the Grand River, and $50,000 to expand the city's network of community gardens.

Councillors also asked for staff to look for ways to fund projects that weren't included in the budget, such as a playground and splash pad at the southwest district park, and include more money for trees and for community-led traffic calming.

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