THUNDER BAY – A contract covering the lion's share of 2023 road resurfacing work has been approved by Thunder Bay’s city council.
Administration recommended awarding a $5.7-million road work contract to low bidder Pioneer Construction Inc. in a report presented to council on Monday.
The wide-ranging contract will notably see the local company fully rehabilitate sections of Arthur Street and Dawson Road, and resurface a number of other city streets. It also covers spot repairs to sidewalks, street lighting, curbs and gutters.
A major portion of the contract along Memorial Avenue was approved only conditionally, and could be put on hold if the city does not receive hoped-for government infrastructure dollars this year.
The city has applied for $3 million in NOHFC and FedNor grants to help cover the rising cost of a $13 million rebuild of core sections of Red River Road and Court Street. The city’s 2023 budget includes only $8 million for the project.
If those grants don’t come through, the city will delay $1.5 million of the road work contract, pushing off rehabilitation along Memorial including a planned new traffic signal at the Harbour Expressway intersection.
Coun. Brian Hamilton called the contract the city's major answer to residents' road quality concerns, and asked staff what impact it would have beyond major arterial roadways.
"Despite what people are saying – and there are roads that are bad – there's a lot of arterial roads that are getting done," he said. "I notice that a lot of residential streets are pretty bad. So does this actually get into those residential sections that we really need to get into?"
Director of engineering Kayla Dixon said the contract's impact will be felt in improvements throughout the city on arterial, collector, and residential streets.
Pioneer’s $5.7 million bid for the road work contract came in well below the city’s pre-tender estimate of around $6.4 million.
Two other bids, from Bruno’s Contracting and Taranis Contracting Group, each came in several hundred thousand dollars above Pioneer’s.
The 2023 city budget included $1.5 million to rehabilitate Dawson Road from Ada Avenue to Hunter Road; $1.6 million to rehabilitate Memorial Avenue from the Harbour Expressway to Central Avenue, and rebuild the traffic signal at Harbour; and $900,000 to rehabilitate Arthur Street from Highway 61 to Mountdale Avenue.
The contract approved Monday will also see paving on sections of Ford Street, Wren Court, Lar-Den Court, McLeod Street, and Picton Avenue.
In addition, it provides for spot fixes to correct issues on streets including Albany Street, Arthur Street, Balmoral Street, Gore Street, High Street, Island Drive and Norah Crescent.
Lastly, the contract includes grading and drainage improvements on Townline Road between Oliver Road and Pole Line Road, in preparation for application of surface treatment later this year.
Council approved the contract, with the Memorial Avenue work okayed only provisionally, in a unanimous vote Monday.
