Shelburne council inks contract for road repaving

July 4, 2024 · 0 Comments

Written By Paula Brown

Shelburne Town Council has awarded the contract for a road repaving project on the town’s main throughway.

During their regular meeting on June 24, Shelburne Town Council received a report from Jim Moss, director of development and operations, requesting council’s approval to award the contract to repave Main Street and Owen Sound Street to Forest Contractors Limited.

The original estimated cost and the amount received in funding from the provincial government through the Connecting Links Grant Program, for the resurfacing project on the two main throughways in Shelburne was $1,300,213.32.

According to the report, Forest Contractors Limited submitted the lowest submission in the request for proposals with an amount of $780,615.81 plus HST.

“When we look at that it’s considerably lower than what the estimate was for the project and what we ultimately did get for funding through the Ministry of Transportation,” said Moss.

The repaving project will include resurfacing work on Owen Sound Street, replacement of the interlocking stone adjacent to the roadway in the downtown core as well as curbing work, catch basin repairs and upgrading of the pedestrian crossing at Owen Sound and Fourth Avenue.

The Town of Shelburne is responsible for 10 per cent of the project’s cost for a total of $130,021.23, which is being funded through the road construction capital reserve.

The Town of Shelburne has three sections that are part of the connecting link, which includes Main Street East, Main Street West and Owen Sound Street.

Connecting links are municipal roads that connect two ends of a provincial highway through a community or to an international or interprovincial border crossing.

According to the province, there are a total of 352 kilometres of connecting links, with 70 bridges in 77 municipalities in Ontario.

With the lower estimated cost for the resurfacing project, the Town of Shelburne has an additional $264,547.70 in funding remaining.

Moss noted to council that staff have been in consultation with the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) on using the remaining funds to support upgrades to narrow sidewalk sections, additional curb replacement and replacement of guardrails north of Fiddle Park Lane.

The report to council adds that the request has been “well received” by MTO.

Councillor Walter Benotto asked about specific locations being considered for the sidewalk widening, with Moss suggesting Second and First Avenues as areas of interest.

“We’re looking at sections that don’t meet our design criteria now, because we do have a wider design criteria right now. Some of those areas are pretty tight and you can’t help but tear up some of the grass so this will help give us that extra width and keep us on the concrete portion,” said Moss.

With the approval from council, town staff is now able to give the contractors the go-ahead to begin mobilizing the resurfacing project.

A set date for the start of repaving has not yet been announced, but Moss noted that construction on Main Street and Owen Sound Street is likely to begin between July and August.