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TO: |
Mayor and
Members of Council |
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FROM: |
Alan Brown,
Director of Engineering |
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PREPARED
BY: |
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DATE
OF MEETING: |
2004-March-29 |
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SUBJECT: |
Status Report
on the Rodick Road/Highway 407 Overpass
Construction Project |
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT
the Engineering
Department report entitled “ Status Report on
the Rodick Road/Highway 407 Overpass Construction
Project” dated March 29, 2004 be received,
AND THAT the Region of York be requested to provide funding for the project in the
amount of one-third of the capital cost of the project in accordance with
Regional policies regarding funding of
AND THAT the Mayor and Clerk be
authorized to enter into an
Agreement with 407 ETR for the construction and maintenance of the proposed Rodick Road/Highway 407 overpass structure and related
works to the satisfaction of the CAO and Town Solicitor.
AND THAT a contingency amount of
$20,000 be authorized to cover the potential cost of 407 ETR technical
auditor’s review, permit administration and inspection fees to be funded from the
Engineering Department’s approved 2002 Capital Budget (account # 083-5350-4731-005).
AND THAT the Engineering Department
be authorized to increase the detailed design fee to Marshall Macklin Monaghan
Limited by a maximum amount of $75,000 excluding GST to cover the cost of additional design
services required to address fisheries habitat issues and the redesign of the Beaver
Creek crossing structure to be funded from the Engineering Department’s approved 2003
Capital Budget (account #
083-5350-4731-005).
AND THAT the balance of the fund in
account # 083-5350-4731-005 in the amount of $6,205,000 be applied to the
construction of the project.
AND THAT in the event that an
acceptable agreement on a revised fee for construction inspection and contract
administration services cannot reached with the existing consulting firm
engaged on the project, the Engineering Department be authorized to pre-qualified
three consulting engineering firms for the provision of these services during the
construction of the project and to request detailed proposals from these prequalified firms.
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this report is to provide Council’s with an update on the status of the Rodick Road/Highway 407 overpass construction project structure. In particular, this report will provide
information on the current status of property acquisitions, agreement negotiations, approvals and project scheduling.
BACKGROUND:
The extension of
An Environmental Assessment was
completed for the project in June of 1996 and work on the detailed design of
the project, the acquisition of properties, the development of a management
plan to deal with contaminated soils, the negotiation of agreements and the
securing of approvals for the project has been ongoing since 1999. The construction of the
An initial request to enter the property
to conduct testing necessary to complete the project design was made to Magna
International in August of 1999. Magna
refused this and all subsequent requests to conduct testing on the property and
insisted that the Town purchase their entire 8.9 ha. property
rather than the 0.60 ha. required for the road allowance. Although the property
required for the road construction was expropriated in June of 2002, Magna
continued to deny access to the lands resulting in an Ontario Municipal Board
Hearing in August of 2002 which granted the Town access to the site. Magna’s refusal
of to negotiate the transfer of the
required road allowance and their refusal to allow Town staff and the Town’s
consultants access to the property to carry out required testing has delayed
the implementation of this project by approximately three years. While the Town now owes the land required for
the road construction, negotiations to resolve compensation are ongoing.
Delays to the start of the construction
have also resulted from the need to resolve a number of jurisdictional and
procedural issues between the Ministry of Transportation and the 407ETR
consortium relating to the impact of the Rodick Road
extension on the construction of the future
Highway 407 transitway and the impact of the
proposed construction on the existing and future operations of Highway 407,
from changes in the requirements of
Toronto & Region Conservation regarding a proposed crossing of Beaver Creek and
modifications to the project design to accommodate a possible future YRTP transitway on Rodick Road.
The acquisition of properties and the
negotiation of approvals have now been completed to the extent that
construction of the project will be tendered on March 30, 2004 with
construction to start in early June pending final resolution of fisheries
habitat issues with the TRCA and the execution of an agreement with 407 ETR
regarding the construction and maintenance of the overpass structure.
DISCUSSION:
Property Acquisition
The acquisitions of a total of 13 parcels of land were required to construct the overpass and related roadworks. To date 12 of the parcels have been acquired from 3 separate landowners including Magna International (by expropriation), Hydro One Networks and the Ontario Realty Corporation. The acquisition of the remaining parcel of land, owned by ORC, is currently under discussion and is expected to be completed in the near future.
Required Approvals
Approvals
for the Rodick Road/Highway 407 overpass project are
required from the following agencies;
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Agency |
Approvals Required |
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Toronto & Region Conservation |
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Provincial Ministry of Transportation |
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407 ETR |
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Provincial Ministry of the Environment |
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Region of |
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Hydro One Networks |
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Discussions with and
submissions to each of these agencies has been ongoing for a number of
months and it is anticipated that all approvals will be in
place prior to the start of construction.
407 ETR Issues
During initial contacts with the Ministry of
Transportation regarding this project, engineering staff were advised that there
was considerable uncertainty at the provincial government level regarding the
respective rights and responsibilities of the MTO and the operators of Highway
407 ( 407 ETR) in respect to the review and approval of new construction
projects in the Highway 407 corridor. Although the preliminary engineering
design work for the overpass structure was completed and submitted in 2001, the
MTO and 407 ETR were not in a position to provide comments until the
outstanding internal issues were resolved.
Staff were advised in December 2003 that the MTO and
407 ETR had reached an agreement regarding the responsibilities of each party
and had established procedures for the review and approval of construction
proposals in the 407 corridor. In summary, 407 ETR must agree in principle with
the proposed construction works and is responsible for the review and approval
of the engineering designs. The Town must also enter into an agreement with 407
ETR which addresses issues such as;
· the impact of the proposed construction on existing Highway 407 operations and maintenance.
· ownership of the overpass structure
· responsibilities and costs of future maintenance of the overpass structure and related roadworks within the highway corridor.
· letter of Credit requirements and payment of fees
· scheduling of work
A draft copy of the Agreement has been received and staff is currently negotiating to finalize the terms and conditions of this agreement. This draft agreement includes a requirement that the ownership of the bridge, when completed, will be transferred to 407 ETR and that the Town will be responsible for the annual maintenance of the structure. Although the issue of compensation for lost tolling revenues resulting from construction activities associated with the Rodick Road project are not included in the current draft of the agreement and no formal request has been made by 407ETR to include this compensation, this requirement may be brought forward by 407 ETR as a part of the final agreement conditions.
Ministry of Transportation Issues
Although the review and approval of the engineering designs and the preparation of a legal agreement is the responsibility of 407 ETR, the MTO, as the owners of the highway, must also review and approve the proposed works and must issue a permit for any works which lie within the highway right-of-way. The Ministry’s approval and the issuing of Permits will only occur after the 407 ETR approval is received.
The
Ministry is also responsible for ensuring that the construction of the
approach overpass embankments and the depth of servicing have been extensively reviewed with the Ministry and have been resolved.
Beaver
Creek, a tributary of the
The initial designs for the Beaver Creek crossing were prepared by the Town’s consultant based on the box culvert concept presented in the approved ESR. Meetings to discuss these designs were held with Toronto & Region Conservation Authority staff in 2001. During these discussions, TRCA staff provided advice pertaining to the design of the culvert and the corresponding fisheries habitat compensation which would be required. On the basis of these discussions, final designs for the creek crossing and habitat compensation were prepared and these designs, together with a permit application were submitted to the TRCA for approval.
In response to the submission of the permit application, TRCA advised that a box culvert crossing of the creek was not acceptable and that a bridge structure spanning the creek was required. In light of the TRCA’s previous position regarding the use of box culverts and the considerable additional cost associated with the construction of a bridge structure, estimated at an additional $2 million, engineering department staff objected to the TRCA requirement and have been negotiating with TRCA staff since December of 2003 in an attempt to find a solution acceptable to both parties. As a result of these negotiations, an agreement in principle has now been reached which provides for the construction of large open footing culverts instead of a bridge structure. While the installation of this type of culvert is more expensive than the original box culvert proposal, it is considerably less expensive than the bridge structure favoured by TRCA staff. The engineering design drawings and specifications will be revised to reflect this change and staff is requesting authorization of additional design fees to cover this redesign work. The consultant has submitted an upset limit estimate of these additional fees which total approximately $ 75,000. Staff has reviewed this estimate and is concerned that these fee estimates are disproportionately high given the extent of work required. Staff is continuing to negotiate these fee increases with the consultant but is requesting approval of the upset amount to avoid delaying the tendering of the project.
Engineering Department staff will continue to negotiate a final agreement for the creek crossing and fisheries compensation plans with TRCA.
Region of
1) Protection of Existing Services
The existing York-Durham trunk sanitary sewer crosses the proposed extension of Rodick Road approximately 100 metres south of Highway 407 and the construction of the bridge embankments could potentially impact the sewer. The Region requested that special protection measures be incorporated into the design and this issue has now been resolved and the approval of the Region has been received.
2) Future Rapid Transit
The
Region requested that the design of the
3) Funding of Overpass Construction
The
Region of York will provide funding under the Regional Development Charge
By-law for one third of the capital cost of constructing new overpass
structures over 400 series highways providing that the area municipality has included
these structures in the local DC By-law. In the case of the
Schedule
The current schedule for the project is:
·
tender
call –
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tender
award recommendation to Finance & Administrative Committee –
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Construction
start –
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Construction
complete (road open to traffic) – May 6, 2005
The scheduled opening date of the
Construction
Supervision and Contract Administration Services
In June of 1999, Council authorized the retention of
the consulting firm of Marshall Macklin Monaghan Ltd to carry out the detailed
design of the
The fee quotation for construction supervision and
contract administration services submitted in 1999 was based on the completion
of the construction of the project by December 2002 and an estimated
construction value of approximately $6.6 million. In the ensuing five year
period, the scope and cost of work to be included under the construction
contract has changed significantly to
the extent that the
construction supervision and contract administration fees approved in 1999 are
no
longer appropriate. Staff
has identified two appropriate methods of obtaining updated fee proposals for
these services:
1.
Negotiate a revised fee with the existing
consulting firm
2.
Solicit competitive proposals from other
qualified consulting firms. Given the size, short delivery time and complexity
of the
Staff has initiated discussions with the current
consultant regarding a revised fee but is requesting Council’s authorization to
request proposals for other qualified consultants if an acceptable agreement
cannot be reached with Marshal Macklin Monaghan by
FINANCIAL
CONSIDERATIONS:
The additional
costs for design modifications to accommodate future transit facilities have
been identified and will be funded entirely by the Region of York. The costs
for design modifications to the Beaver Creek crossing will be funded from the
existing capital budget for the Rodick Road/Highway
407 overpass project.
The amount of
the Region’s contribution towards the construction of the overpass structure
will be established once the tender for the project is awarded.
BUSINESS
UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
The
Legal Services Department and the Finance Department has reviewed this report.
ATTACHMENTS:
“A” Site
Location
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Alan Brown, C.E.T. Director of Engineering |
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Jim Baird, M.C.I.P., R.P.P. Commissioner of Development Services |