What is being called 'Phase 1' of construction along the connecting link through Timmins will begin later this summer.
City council has unanimously approved the tender award to Miller Paving with a bill of $4,806,463.39+HST, which includes 25 new street lights to fill in a large gap between Rae Hill and South Porcupine which becomes pitch black at night.
Bicycle lanes were also an improvement recently approved by council. These would be an additional 2.5 metres on each side of the highway to allow a safe space for cyclists and in some cases, pedestrians.
Last week, Director of Public Works and Engineering Luc Duval presented an update on costs for the project.
"I do want to identify that having received now the costs, actual costs, that the cost to do those lanes is slightly higher than what was estimated than at the time of voting for the initiative," said Duval.
The bike lanes were approved by council at a preliminary cost of $125,000 per kilometre.
"Based on this trend, its not 125, its closer to 200 thousand to do that enhancement. So it will be overall for the project, a little higher than expected," said Duval.
This means the cost for the installation of bike lanes will rise from $2.3 million, to $3.7 million.
"We have a difficult decision to make, we're over budget by close to $400,000 dollars," he said.
The installation of the new lights, an initiative pushed for by Councillor Walter Wawrzaszek, has added the extra $400 thousand and change to the bill.
"The other important point to make is that we do have $3 million dollars from the Connecting Link funding that needs to be spent this year, so certainly time is of the essence for us to award the contract," added Duval.
Wawrzaszek said that it would be wise to spend the money this year, as opposed to having to work on the area sometime again in the next few years.
"My opinion is, we're there, we should do it. If we're going to pave the bicycle lanes, and rip them up again to put in lighting and poles, I think we're going to be doing double work on some of this," he said.
Councillor Pat Bamford then inquired to Duval about how much damage to the bike lanes and shoulder would occur if the city waited until a later date to install the new lights.
Duval replied that the lights are outside of the paved area, but added 'maybe a little bit of shoulder work'.
"It would come with an extra cost to the municipality in terms of maintenance. It is nice to have for sure, I don't disagree" said Duval.
Councillor Joe Campbell agreed with Wawrzaszek's sentiment.
"If we're putting in bike lanes, I'm not sure why we wouldn't put the lights in, because I think we'd be creating a safety hazard at night with a bunch of people riding along the highway there. We're going to say 'Okay ride your bike back and forth, but we're going to have a stretch from the bottom of Rae Hil to the Bruce Avenue 'Y' that's going to be black," said Campbell.
Close-up version of the section of Highway 101 which will be repaired in 2016 with 66% of the costs covered by the provincial government. Andrew Autio for TimminsToday Councillor Mike Doody, who said he drives between Timmins and South Porcupine on 'a fairly regular basis', fervently opposed the idea of the bike lanes and posed a question for everyone in the room to ponder.
"To be honest, how many times have you seen somebody on a bike, trying to go up Rae Hill? I can't recall the last time I saw somebody. Maybe there are people on an ongoing basis that bike from Timmins/Schumacher to South Porcupine/Porcupine, or the other way around, but has anybody ever said, 'we'll put somebody there and see how many bikes go back and forth on any given day?' I'm just asking," said Doody loudly.
"I get the impression from some people, that its just-a-movin out there," he said
Doody did however throw his 'total' support behind the installation of the lights along the stretch, which he said is needed.
"But bike lanes? I dunno" said Doody.
Mayor Steve Black offered a rebuttal to Doody, by stating that the number of cyclists was likely similar to the numbers on Airport Road, before its bike path was installed.
"I don't imagine too many wanted to daunt actually trying to bike on the actual highway, with ore trucks, without the bike lanes. That's probably a hindrance" said Black.
Wawraszek also replied to Doody.
"For your information, I was driving a sand truck one day, which had come back the day before from an emissions test, I had a bicycle pass me going up Rae Hill, that's how bad it was" he said, adding he believes more people walk Rae Hill than the stretch.
Bamford said he had also seen 'a fair number' of cyclists, but would prefer to hear the project referred to as 'paved shoulders' as opposed to bike lanes.
"The advantage of paving shoulders, as I've said before, is its going to save huge dollars every summer, and after major rainfalls for shoulder maintenance," he said, and added some empathy for local cyclists, who are squeezed into a 'one foot' stretch.
"They are managing that beside big trucks, so it is a frightening thing. We have to do everything we can to make people safe in our community," said Bamford.
Black also said that the addition of bicycle lanes it is a part of the city promoting healthy and active lifestyles.
Work should begin shortly. Duval said that there will be inevitable traffic delays, but that there will always be one lane in both directions open at all times. Duval said that September 30 is the target completion date for all paving.
