City of Powell River Council has awarded a contract to BA Blacktop in the amount of $1,658,468.44, plus GST, for paving eight sections of road in the city.
At the July 30 special city council meeting, director of infrastructure Tor Birtig said at the end of June, the city tendered a pavement program that included eight road sections, as well as some patching areas in town. He said seven of those eight are where pulverizing of the asphalt is required, going down 100 millimetres and repaving. He said another section was an overlay.
Birtig said there is paving planned for Duncan Street from Joyce Avenue to Manson Avenue, plus a couple of other streets.
“Last week, the tender closed and we received only one compliant bid,” said Birtig. “That was from BA Blacktop. Unfortunately, the price came in over $2.1 million, where we only had a budget of $1.74 million. We began discussions with BA Blacktop and we were in agreement of removing two items from the tender.”
Birtig said one is the section of Lois Street from Sutherland Avenue to King Avenue, which has lesser traffic volume and no pressing infrastructure issues. He said it was thought the project could be delayed for a year without major consequences. Also removed was the traffic loop replacement and pavement marking restoration at the intersection of Duncan Street and Joyce Avenue.
“Ultimately, we have the projects outlined for a total of $1.658 million,” said Birtig. “That allows us an $80,000 contingency, and with the hopes of everything going appropriately, we can do some additional patching.”
Councillor Trina Isakson said she did not believe there had been much paving going on since she was elected to council. She said her understanding was that paving was occurring every two years so the city could get a better bid.
Birtig said the previous year, when the paving was tendered, the costs received were high, so it was thought it would be better if the city combined a few years to entice other paving contractors to come to town. He said BA Blacktop was the successful bidder for the large volume of asphalt required at Powell River Airport, and the successful bidder for the Lund Highway, which, in the end, generated some discounts in this year’s pricing for paving.
“We only received the one bid,” said Birtig. “We didn’t receive anything from pavers from Vancouver Island or the Interior this time.”
Councillor Jim Palm asked about Crown Avenue, which goes past Powell River Regional Cemetery in Cranberry. He said it is in really bad shape.
Birtig said there are a number of roads in town that are in bad shape as well.
Palm said he wanted to point out Crown Avenue for future reference.
Councillor Elliott asked about the traffic loop that was not part of the contract. Birtig said it involves wires being embedded into the intersection that sense vehicles when they go over top. He said it will interrupt the traffic pattern and provide a left-turn arrow when parking on that sensor.
Isakson moved that the contract be awarded to BA Blacktop. The motion carried unanimously.
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