Big projects are coming to Bradford’s roadways in the not-too-distant future, and that has created a bit of a juggling act for staff and council.
Based on a report from Peter Loukes, director of development and engineering, committee of the whole recommended council endorse the Arterial Road Sequencing Plan, agree to include initial work on Line 8 in the 2024 budget discussions, and ask staff to report back in the fourth quarter of 2024 about the Holland Street reconstruction, during a meeting Nov. 21.
The plan outlines the order in which major road works should be undertaken on the town’s arterial roads, including Line 8, for which the recommended design options have yet to be determined, since the environmental assessment (EA) process, which started in 2016, was suspended in 2020.
As recently as January, staff expected this could be completed by the end of 2023, but so far this year, no public consultations for the project have taken place, and Loukes explained staff had revised their timeline and had hoped to begin consultations in 2024.
Ward 3 Coun. Ben Verkaik proposed an amendment that required staff to begin work on the EA as soon as possible.
“We should be starting that tomorrow,” he said.
Ward 6 Coun. Nickolas Harper agreed and seconded the amendment.
“This street has been dying to get done for 20 years,” he said.
In order to complete the EA, which includes Sideroad 10 from Reagens Industrial Parkway to Line 8, the options and drawings will need to be updated, presented to key stakeholders and undergo public consultation before staff can recommend a design choice for council's endorsement.
In the report, Loukes estimated it would take until the end of 2024 to complete that work and submit the endorsed EA to the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) for approval, only after which can detailed design work begin.
Loukes says that could happen in 2025, enabling construction to begin no earlier than 2026.
In the meantime, staff started updating the background studies for Line 8 this year based on concerns that the road may not be able to handle detoured traffic from upcoming projects from the MTO and County of Simcoe.
Those include the bridge currently under construction to take County Road 4 over the future Highway 400-404 Link (Bradford Bypass), for which construction is expected to stretch into 2025, and the county’s widening of County Road 4 north of Line 8, which could close the road at Line 10 for a culvert replacement for up to seven weeks starting as early as July 2024.
To accommodate the extra traffic on Line 8, staff are recommending initial improvements ahead of the EA’s completion. Based on subsurface analysis, they determined base stabilization would sufficiently strengthen the road. Work could be completed ahead of the culvert replacement in July.
Several councillors asked how much of that initial work would need to be torn up and redone for the new design, but both Loukes and Katy Modaressi, manager of capital projects, explained that the stabilized portion will still be used, even if the road is expanded.
Both Ward 2 Coun. Jonathan Scott and Ward 4 Coun. Joseph Giordano stressed the initial work to Line 8 is necessary and wouldn’t be wasted.
“There might be little bit of redundancy ... but we’re going to be able to build on top of that when we’re done,” Scott said.
“We’re not spending money to rip it up again,” Giordano said.
As part of that initial work, staff are also recommending the two-way stop at Line 8 and Professor Day Drive be replaced with a full set of traffic lights, which are already present at Langford Boulevard, Summerlyn Trail and Noble Drive.
Staff also intend to provide a contiguous hard-surface pathway between Professor Day and Langford.
Staff plan to present the finalized cost estimates for the initial work on Line 8 in time for the 2024 budget deliberations in early January, which they expect to be “considerably less” than the $15.2 million previously approved in the multi-year capital budget.
Committee of the whole voted unanimously to recommend council include the initial work in budget discussions.
Ward 5 Coun. Peter Ferragine was absent.
Holland Street reconstruction
The initial work on Line 8 will also help traffic move around town whenever work begins on the reconstruction of Holland Street as part of the Downtown Bradford revitalization project, but the exact timing for that remains unknown.
After council put the reconstruction project on hold between 2015 and 2021, staff completed studies and public consultation last year, with the EA submitted and approved by the end of 2022.
The project is expected to reduce the number of travel lanes on Holland Street from four to two in most places providing enhanced pedestrian and public spaces.
However, the new design included traffic estimates based on the bypass being completed by 2031, and while Ontario Minister of Finance Peter Bethlenfalvy’s fall economic statement confirmed work will continue this year and next, including the replacement of the 400 and County Road 88 interchange, the bypass’s final design is yet to be determined.
Once started, staff estimate reconstruction of Holland and the underground infrastructure will disrupt traffic for about four years.
As recently as June 2022, the Holland reconstruction was expected to go to tender by the end of 2023 and begin construction in 2024, with town staff having expected the work to be completed by 2026 or 2027.
On Tuesday evening, Mayor James Leduc was vehemently opposed to moving ahead with the Holland reconstruction sooner than 2025 and initially suggested it would make more sense to delay it until 2026, not only to avoid construction on Line 8 and Holland simultaneously, but to give the town more time to find out exactly what is planned for the bypass and to make their own determinations about whether or not to expand Line 8.
“It doesn't make sense to do all the construction at the same time,” he said. “We need to see a few more moving parts over the next little while.”
Deputy Mayor Raj Sandhu said he does not support having the two projects overlap.
“It would be a traffic nightmare,” he said.
Both Giordano and Sandhu asked if there was any work that could be done to Holland after the initial work to Line 8, while waiting for the EA process, and Modaressi explained that assessments, budgeting and tendering of contracts had already been done for work needed to side streets such as Agar Avenue, Davey Boulevard and Miller Park Avenue to ensure traffic can still flow while Holland is under construction.
“We need to make sure the public can actually move around,” she said.
After some discussion over the timing of going to tender and consulting with businesses, Loukes recommended bringing a report back later in the year.
Scott thought it would be best to make a decision in late 2024 about going to tender in 2025, since that would allow the province time to release more information in their budget. That might also let work on Holland to be completed before any potential expansion of Line 8 begins, allowing projects to be done in sequence.
“We’re all trying to say the same thing,” Scott said. “Everyone wants Holland Street done as soon as possible and we want to make an informed decision to do that.”
The committee voted unanimously to recommend council ask staff to present a report on the matter in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Ferragine was also absent for this vote.
Recommendations from the committee are considered for approval at the next regular council meeting.
— With files from Patrick Bales
