Charlottetown councillor questions spending millions on Eastern Gateway plan
Council awarded a contract worth more than $8 million for Phase 2 of project near Hillsborough Bridge
Plans for the future of Charlottetown's Eastern Gateway, near the Hillsborough Bridge, have been talked about at city hall since 2011.
City staff say the plan is expected to be implemented in two phases. The first phase of the plan — which staff said will be done soon — includes sewer and water upgrades to prevent local flooding in the area along Grafton Street near Joseph Ghiz Memorial Park.
The plan's second phase will reroute Water Street through the Charlottetown Events Grounds near the Hillsborough Bridge, which connects Prince Edward Island's capital to Stratford and points east, including seasonal ferry service to Nova Scotia.
The total cost of the project is now expected to be more than $15 million.
Coun. Mitchell Tweel said with the project already under consideration for so long, it may not be a great investment for the city any more.
"I think when you're looking at a plan of that magnitude," he said, "sometimes it doesn't hurt to have a second sober thought when it comes to looking at a plan that requires millions and millions and millions of dollars.
"What looked good on paper … years ago — is that plan really conducive today? I'm not so sure."
'We'll fix a lot of traffic issues'
However, the city's chief engineer, Scott Adams, said although the second phase will disrupt traffic, as it re-routes Water Street to connect it to Grafton Street, in the long run residents will benefit from the changes.
"We'll fix a lot of traffic issues in this area of town, especially in those peak hours of people trying to get to and from work," Adams said, adding the improvements would open up the area for other options, for instance for new public spaces.
"That way we can make a much larger green space that can be turned into a park space, event grounds — whatever city council decides at the end of the day," he said.
The hope is that the planned sewer and water upgrades near Joseph Ghiz Memorial Park will stop flooding, which often happens during heavy rainfall, Adams noted.
"The first main goal is to try to alleviate a lot of that localized flooding," he said. "So there is a major storm line that is being installed under the roadway all the way out to the harbour."
At a special city council meeting at the end of February, councillors voted 8-2 to award an $8.3-million contract to Moncton-based Birch Hill Construction for Phase 2 of the Eastern Gateway Waterfront Master Plan.
Tweel and Coun. Bob Doiron voted against the plan.
Tweel took issue with the contract not being awarded to a company based on P.E.I. Although an Island company did bid on the project, they did not meet the construction schedule requested by the city, Adams said.
Tweel wants the city to introduce a new procurement policy, which would grant extra points to companies based on the Island when they bid on a project.
"We have millions of dollars leaving Prince Edward Island to firms that are off-Island," he said. "I think we have to do a much better job than what we are doing now.
"If these services can be provided here, then we need to do everything in our power to make sure there are no stones left unturned to support our local businesses."
However, at a council meeting late last month, the city's legal counsel said even if it passed such a procurement law, it would only apply to contracts up to about $300,000, because the city is required to let other non-local firms compete for contracts.
"That's one aspect that I would argue can be debated and needs to be examined," Tweel said. "That's one of many types of criteria that can be looked at."
Although the planning committee recommended deferring the project, city staff recommended approving it, according to city documents.
Deadlines were key
The deadline for Phase 2 of the project is August 15, which was chosen to avoid impacting the P.E.I. International Shellfish Festival, which takes place at the Charlottetown Events Grounds every year. Adams said if Birch Hill Construction can't meet the deadline, it could impact that annual event.
"We've been working with the event organizers," he said. "That has been one of their biggest concerns, and we 100 per cent agree we want to see that event be successful."
"If there are delays that are preventable, they are the hook for those. There are delays no one can account for, and we have to be mindful of that — that's why we built in a little bit of a buffer in the event of those delays, like weather."
The work also aligns with provincial plans to alter the intersection at the bottom of Hillsborough Bridge, similar to what has been done with a portion of the bypass.
"It handles a lot of traffic and it's over capacity at the moment," Adams said.
Roadwork for Phase 2 of the project is likely to begin between late March and early April, he said.
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