Downtown BRT route over-budget as remaining routes face double-digit inflation
Downtown BRT route over-budget as remaining routes face double-digit inflation
Inflation has driven the cost to build London’s first rapid transit route over budget and threatens to increase the price tag for the two remaining routes.
A new report to the Civic Works Committee (CWC) reveals building the $23.3 million Downtown Loop cost 1.7 per cent ($331,000) more than budgeted.
Cost overruns must be covered by the city.
“So far we’ve been really successful in limiting our budget exceedance to a small amount,” explains director of construction and infrastructure Jennie Dann. “But we know that the factors that are impacting the cost of these projects are not going away anytime soon.”
The report warns inflationary pressures are also anticipated to impact the more expensive East London Link and Wellington Gateway routes.
The budget approved five years ago did not anticipate construction costs to rise so quickly.
“Recent construction price escalations have been observed following approval of the EA (Shift BRT Environmental Assessment) cost estimates from 2018,” reads the CWC report.
Specifically, the 2018 Environmental Assessment estimated annual inflation at 2 per cent to 3 per cent, but Statistics Canada’s Construction Price Index is currently at 12.5 per cent.
In 2018, Dann responded to concerns raised by former mayoral candidate Paul Paolatto that the construction budget was overly optimistic:
At the time she wrote to CTV News, “to guard against cost overruns on this project, we have factored in a significant 50 per cent contingency fund— meaning we have done our financial planning in a way that ensures there are no surprises for Londoners.”
Dann now says a surge in construction costs of more than 30 per cent since 2018 couldn’t be anticipated.
“We made reasonable assumptions at the time, and so now we’re at a point where we’re trying to look at whatever options we can to refine our design and work with those pressures to find savings,” she says.
Cost pressures are impacting infrastructure projects across the city.
The cost to build the Adelaide Rail Underpass recently grew from $58 million to $88 million.
Earlier this week, city council supported a $10.2 million dollar adjustment to the city’s Capital Budget related to 18 smaller road projects.
Dann says the city continues to seek cost efficiencies as designs are finalized on the East London Link and Wellington Gateway.
The report also advises that additional funding might be sought in the 2024-27 multi-year budget this December.
“It’s really too early to tell,” adds Dann. “The team is using all of those same really great practices around value engineering and trying to find ways to tighten up the design for the cost savings.”
The parents of young Ontario hockey player Ben Teague have been searching for answers since he died while at a team retreat in 2019. The mystery about what happened and the code of silence in hockey culture is explored in CTV W5's 'What Happened to Ben,' on CTVNews.ca and W5's official YouTube channel.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is due to meet with Vladimir Putin in a political boost for the isolated Russian president after the International Criminal Court charged him with war crimes in Ukraine.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's calls for protests ahead of his anticipated indictment in New York have generated mostly muted reactions from supporters, with even some of his most ardent loyalists dismissing the idea as a waste of time or a law enforcement trap.
An Ontario woman has launched a lawsuit seeking $500,000 from Tim Hortons after she suffered major burns from an alleged ‘superheated’ tea. The company has denied all allegations and said she was ‘the author of her own misfortune.'
Police are giving an update on last week's fire in Old Montreal that killed at least one person and left six missing. Fire services began partially dismantling the building over the weekend, uncovering one body Sunday evening. Several units in the building were unauthorized short-term rentals, or Airbnbs.
Even at one of the tallest natural peaks on Earth, humans have left their mark in a trail of bacteria as researchers have found germs from coughing and sneezing that have been potentially preserved for centuries on Mount Everest.
Shares of Credit Suisse plunged 63 per cent in early trading Monday after the announcement that banking giant UBS would buy its troubled rival for almost US$3.25 billion in a deal orchestrated by regulators to stave off further market-shaking turmoil in the global banking system.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling for a national standardized testing process to be created in order to speed up the licensing process for doctors and nurses who are either immigrants or were trained abroad.
A community is in mourning after a 10-year-old girl was killed earlier this week when flames tore through her family’s camping trailer southeast of Brantford.
St. Patrick's day street parties in Waterloo, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau making an announcement in Guelph, and a woman charged with defrauding doulas round out the most-read stories of the week.
The investigation into a house explosion in Windsor will continue Monday. The process wrapped up for the day around 7 p.m. at the scene on Aspen Lane in east Windsor.
The first day of spring in Windsor-Essex will be a beautiful one. The daytime high is forecast to be 9 C, nearly 2 C warmer than the average high for this time of year.
A speed measuring sign on Essa Road, near Beacon Road, has been put in place by Barrie police after a noticeable increase in reckless driving from residents nearby.
An Ontario woman has launched a lawsuit seeking $500,000 from Tim Hortons after she suffered major burns from an alleged ‘superheated’ tea. The company has denied all allegations and said she was ‘the author of her own misfortune.'
An Ontario woman has launched a lawsuit seeking $500,000 from Tim Hortons after she suffered major burns from an alleged ‘superheated’ tea. The company has denied all allegations and said she was ‘the author of her own misfortune.'
The Rideau McDonald's Farewell March brought people from across the city, some dressed in costumes, who wanted to say goodbye to a part of what they say makes Ottawa Ottawa.
If you are yearning to walk the trails around Mud Lake in the Britannia Conservation Area, be aware there are wild turkeys looking for mates. A gang of three have been chasing and pecking at visitors to the nature trail for weeks.
March 20 marks the first day of Spring in the northern hemisphere, and, after a long, grey winter, Torontonians can soon look forward to warmer temperatures and sunnier days.
An Ontario woman has launched a lawsuit seeking $500,000 from Tim Hortons after she suffered major burns from an alleged ‘superheated’ tea. The company has denied all allegations and said she was ‘the author of her own misfortune.'
Police are giving an update on last week's fire in Old Montreal that killed at least one person and left six missing. Fire services began partially dismantling the building over the weekend, uncovering one body Sunday evening. Several units in the building were unauthorized short-term rentals, or Airbnbs.
Two families were displaced early Monday morning after a fire ripped through a building in Montreal's Quartier Latin. No one was injured, according to the Montreal fire department (SIM).
The University of Prince Edward Island Faculty Association says its staff has gone on strike after what it says are failed attempts to enter additional negotiations with the university's administration.
The student union president at Cape Breton University said food insecurity has become a concern for many students and the on-campus food bank cannot keep up with demand.
The University of Prince Edward Island coach is defending the team’s actions, after the University of Alberta team skated off the ice without handshakes at the U Sports Men’s Hockey National Championship in Charlottetown.
One person has been confirmed dead and six people remain missing as police continue to search for victims after a fire swept through a building in Old Montreal on Thursday.
The Town of Strathmore and Siksika Nation hosted the first Lead By Example Powwow this weekend in honour of a young Indigenous man who was shot to death four years ago.
Autopsies confirmed gunshot wounds as the cause of death for two constables responding to a domestic dispute Thursday, the Edmonton Police Service says.
When winter is over - and it has to be, doesn't it? - Calgarians turn their attention to other things, such as who they would like to see as the Calgary Stampede parade marshal.
Autopsies confirmed gunshot wounds as the cause of death for two constables responding to a domestic dispute Thursday, the Edmonton Police Service says.
The parents of young Ontario hockey player Ben Teague have been searching for answers since he died while at a team retreat in 2019. The mystery about what happened and the code of silence in hockey culture is explored in 'What Happened to Ben' on CTV W5.
Vancouver firefighters were called to the Downtown Eastside Sunday evening after a fire destroyed multiple tents in an encampment and spread to a building near Main and East Hastings streets.
An international student was swarmed and beaten by a group of people who ripped off his turban and dragged him across the sidewalk by his hair in Kelowna, B.C., Friday evening, according to a local politician.
