Canal Road will be getting a facelift worth $165,600, just months after it spent $243,000 to do the same thing, Bradford West Gwillimbury council voted this week.
Canal, from Day Street and Wist Road, will be resurfaced with a “hot-mix overlay” of asphalt, but town staff warned “failure to address the underlying base and drainage issues” means the road will need maintenance sooner and more often, according to a report.
Councillors debated whether more money from the town’s capital replacement reserve should be spent on the project to find and fix the root cause of the road’s deterioration. It would cost about $670,000 option for that option, according to the report.
“We’ve got to get to the base. It’s our only way to fix that road,” said Deputy Mayor James Leduc at a meeting Tuesday evening. “I think $670,000 is a wise number to do it now … and not knowing what asphalt costs will be later.”
The town spent about $666,000 last year to resurface portions of Line 9 and Canal Road, with the work done in September and October, according to a town staff report.
Of that work, $243,000 was spent for the resurfacing of Canal Road between Day Street and Wist Road, read the report.
“Shortly after completion, the road surface (in that section) began to exhibit premature failure, resulting in a less than desirable driving surface which continues to require frequent repairs,” it read.
Coun. Ron Orr suggested the fall timing of the work is to blame: “To me, that’s what’s wrong with this section of road. It didn’t get a chance to set properly.”
Terry Foran, director of community services, told council staff originally estimated it costing close to $70,000 for sampling and testing to find a root cause of the road’s problems.
“To get as comprehensive as possible, we attack the whole thing. Core sample the whole thing, get an engineering report and scope of work,” he said, “or we take a shot at partial depth reconstruction … and see what happens.”
Foran said other sections of Canal Road appear to be holding up fine, except for this one stretch.
“Canal Road is a different beast altogether. Every section appears to be a little bit different, a little more water, not draining enough,” he said. “To do it correctly ... and to get the most return, ‘How far do you want to go?’ is the real question.”
Resurfacing work would take about a month, with rotating lane closures, he added.
The big unknown to consider, said Mayor Rob Keffer, is how long the Highway 400-Canal Road ramps will be open once the Ministry of Transportation closes them when it widens the highway.
With less traffic on Canal Road, there could be less damage to the asphalt.
“I can’t foresee that the traffic on Canal Bank Road getting that high once the ramps at Highway 400 are unfortunately closed,” he said.
“That appears to be what’s going to happen as far as when MTO (Ministry of Transportation) widens the bridge over the canal for Highway 400. There’s no room for on and off ramps at Canal Bank Road.
“We want to repair this road as soon as possible, but we don’t want to throw money away.”
Council was split in its final vote, with five of its members choosing the $165,600 option, with a caveat that the contract for the work will not go to tender until town staff have done testing.
Leduc, and councillors Peter Ferragine, Gary Lamb, and Mark Contois voted against.
