Council asked to approve $152M in additional contingency funding for Stage 2 LRT
City councillors are being asked to approve additional contingency funds for Stage 2 LRT after all three branches of the project were delayed.
Stage 2, which expands LRT to the east, west, and south, was approved in 2019 with a contingency fund of $152.5 million to account for delays, issues, and rising costs. In 2022, council approved increasing the contingency budget to $177.6 million.
- The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
- Sign up now for our nightly CTV News Ottawa newsletter
Now, staff say, nearly all of that money is spent or has been committed to improvements to Stage 2. Approximately $172.5 is spoken for, contributing to design improvements, design changes and regulatory updates. The lengthy delays the project has since faced have also increased costs on staff and contractor labour, external legal support and consulting.
Other factors increasing costs include the noise barriers being built along Highway 417 and upgrades at the transit control centre. Recent regulatory changes that prevent dumping excess soil from excavation at the Trail Waste Facility also means additional fees and hauling mileage to bring excess dirt elsewhere. The city says more than 2.4 million cubic metres of soil will be excavated to construct the Stage 2 Confederation Line Project, which equals approximately 278,000 standard commercial dump truck loads over the lifetime of the project.
City staff are requesting an additional $42 million for project oversight costs, $35 million for major variations, $25 million for soil management, and $50 million for general contingencies.
"As a result of the emerging issues, and with consideration that the originally contemplated contingency fund and project budget was intended to be allocated through to original completion of Trillium Line 2022 and the Confederation Line in 2025, the remaining budget will be insufficient to deal with expected remaining pressures," a report prepared for the finance and corporate services committee says.
The city must also refinance some of its debt due to a change in gas tax funding from the provincial government.
The dotted line had already been signed on Stage 2 LRT in early 2019 when the Ontario government decided to cancel the planned doubling of provincial gas tax revenue. That extra money had already been included in the $4.6 billion plan for Stage 2.
Staff are recommending removing the remaining amount of unfunded provincial gas tax of $457 million and offsetting it with an increase in development charge revenue of $433 million and transit tax debt of $24 million.
The LRT subcommittee heard this week that the city will not commit to a firm date for opening the Stage 2 Trillium Line expansion, which was originally supposed to have been completed by August 2022. OC Transpo general manager Renée Amilcar is now tentatively saying spring of 2024. The eastern extension of the Confederation Line to Trim Road has been delayed until early 2025 and the western leg to Moodie Drive and Algonquin College isn't set to be complete until late 2026, about 17 months behind schedule.
The finance and corporate services committee meets Nov. 7. If approved, plans will rise to city council on Nov. 22.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Guilty: Trump becomes first former U.S. president convicted of felony crimes
Donald Trump became the first former American president to be convicted of felony crimes Thursday as a New York jury found him guilty of all 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex.
Can Trump come to Canada now that he's a convicted felon?
A Canadian immigration lawyer says now that Donald Trump is a convicted felon, he is technically barred from crossing the border into Canada.
Montreal tech billionaire charged with several sex offences
Robert Miller was charged Thursday with several sexual assault charges after Montreal police reopened an investigation into the tech billionaire.
'All we need is a plug-in and a sink': B.C. helicopter charity delivers health care to remote Canada
Imagine your dentist arriving to help you via chopper. That is the aim of Helicopters Without Borders, a registered charity in B.C. specializing in bringing health care to remote communities, the sort of places you can only access quickly by air or water.
Aurora borealis returning to night skies across Canada this Friday: NOAA
If you missed the brilliant displays of the aurora borealis over North America on May 10, you may have another chance to see them on Friday night.
A pair enjoyed pricey meals and bolted when it was time to pay. Their dine and dash ended in jail
A Welsh couple who dined out on pricey meals and bolted when the bill came is now paying the price, behind bars.
'Why didn't they stop?' Mom asks of driver in hit-and-run crash that killed son
The mother of a 13-year-old boy who was killed in a hit-and-run in Edmonton is begging the driver to come forward.
Shell investigating a 'potential cybersecurity incident'
Oil and gas giant Shell says it is investigating a possible cybersecurity 'incident.'
Doug Ford suggests immigrants behind Jewish school shooting
Ontario Premier Doug Ford suggested immigrants are to blame for the shooting of an empty Jewish school in Toronto over the weekend, despite police saying they have little information on the suspects.