Who will get the pavement?

Residents on Durham Street and Parliament Street in Colborne will get their long- awaited new roads, complete with curbs and gutters – but no one knows when.

Cramahe Township Council approved the bids to resurface the roads and improve the underlying services but was unable to determine which road would be done this fall and which would wait until the spring.

The winning contractor, Behan Construction cannot get both jobs done before freeze up. Durham Street cannot be completed until some poles are moved and approvals for that are pending.

Parliament Street will take more time to complete and will only receive one lift of asphalt. Contractor, Tom Behan advised council that Parliament Street would stand up better if the paving wasn’t done until next spring.

It was decided that the township will wait a week or two to see if the pole moves are approved. If so, Durham Street will be done. If not, Parliament Street work will proceed.

Work on Durham will cost $746,794 plus GST. Parliament Street will cost $707,640 plus GST.

The Durham costs will be paid from water reserves ($202,316), approved funding ($233,333) and construction reserves ($311,144)

Parliament Street costs will be paid from water reserves ($305,740), gas tax ($193,061), municipal levy ($150,893) and construction reserve ($59,732).

Mr. Behan advised council that many communities are paying to have the materials for the work purchased now to give them cost certainty and to use grant money which must be spent soon.

Waiting until the spring to get bids on work is a bad decision in the contractor's opinion. He expects he will not be bidding on work at that time.