Once again, City Council pulls plug on Sackville Road extension

A $7.4-million, 830-metre extension of Sackville Road to Third Line was once again rejected by City Council this week.

The perennially unlucky project was pitched to councillors Monday night as part of the city's latest capital transportation program.

But Ward 2 Coun. Luke Dufour persuaded his colleagues to remove it from consideration, instead allowing a MacDonald Avenue stormwater project to get underway this year and a number of other major projects to proceed in 2023. 

"I don't believe that we should be building new roads when we have such a significant list of existing roads and infrastructure on our deferred list that are not being done," Dufour argued.

"I think we need to take care of what we have before we start building new."

Dufour pointed out that an ongoing environmental assessment of the Sackville project had found it wouldn't provide much relief to traffic congestion on Great Northern Road until Drive-In Road is extended to meet Sackville.

The millions freed up by deferring the Sackville extension will be "better spent fixing the roads that we do have," Dufour said.

City staff have been trying to get the project started for years as a parallel alternative to Great Northern Road, but City Council has repeatedly stood in the way.

"The city has only one north-south access between Black Road and Peoples Road, to get between Second Line and Third Line," Don Elliott, the city's director of engineering, said Monday.

"Great Northern Road is almost equidistant between Black Road and Peoples Road. A very large portion of the city is not accessible north-south, apart from a circuitous little route that goes throught Foxborough Trail. That's really the impetus for this project. It's been on the books for many, many years," Elliott said.

"If you've ever been up Great Northern Road in the last few years between certain times, I think you'd appreciate why staff is recommending that we have another corridor that runs north-south," added Ward 5 Coun. Corey Gardi.

"We want to grow our community. Our community has grown," Gardi said.

"A lot of it commercially has grown to the north end of our community. And a lot of our residential neighbourhoods have moved to the north end."

"I don't see how we can encourage future development in the community when we don't have the necessary infrastructure to support it."

"But we can't lose sight of the fact that this is the busiest part of our community and we may necessarily have to do something in the very near future to address it," Gardi said.

Mayor Provenzano, who led a successful drive to sack the Sackville extension in March 2017, said: "I feel the same way now about it as I did then."

"We recognize there is congestion on Great Northern Road," the mayor said.

"I would suggest at specific times on specific days of the week, there are a number of times you can go up to the hospital where there really isn't much traffic. Although that is an area we to find some solutions for, I would be of the stronger opinion that we have other needs that are more dominant."

"This is a really big spend where we could be improving our active transportation and traffic infrastructure significantly in other ways if we focussed on those priorities," Provenzano said.

Below is the capital transportation program, as prepared by Don Elliott, that received a tentative nod from Sault Ste. Marie City Council this week.

Councillors also designated the candidate project for the 2021 connecting link program.

"Council is not being asked to approve the 2021 program this evening," Elliott said.

"However, it is necessary to procure engineering services to proceed with field data acquisition, local improvements, and design in order to ensure timely tenders in the new year."

"The 2021 capital transportation plan will be brought to council with the annual budget in December after capital priorities assessment is complete," Elliott said in a written report.

"The capital transportation program emphasizes reconstruction of arterial and collector streets which are critical to the city’s movement of traffic while at the same time attempting to address some of the abundant needs of local residential streets."

"The ability of the city to reconstruct this important infrastructure is increasingly limited by budget constraints. There have been no increases, inflationary or otherwise, to the capital transportation budget in over 20 years."

RECOMMENDED 2021 PROJECTS

Third Line Reconstruction – hospital entrance to Black Road

This portion of Third Line has outlived its serviceable life, and requires reconstruction. It is the last link in the Black Road/Third Line corridor providing access to the hospital. It was the subject of a recent environmental assessment. The preferred alternative included reconstruction to a Class A cross-section with curbs and storm sewers, and a multi-use path on the south side. It is noted that if a funding program is announced, this may be a worthy candidate.

Mark Street Reconstruction – Churchill to Lake

This portion of Mark Street and its underground infrastructure has far outlived its serviceable life and is in need of complete reconstruction to an urban Class A cross section.

Aqueducts/Bridges

An allocation is included in the 2021 plan to continue with the replacement and rehabilitation of aqueducts and bridges. The culvert crossing on Case Road has outlived its serviceable life and needs replacement. As funds permit, more portions of the small Central Creek and East Davignon Creek Aqueducts will be rehabilitated.

2021 Connecting Link – Trunk Road resurfacing Southmarket to Black Road

The province has announced an intake this fall for the 2021 Connecting Link Program. The city must budget for its share of the project. Staff recommends the candidate project be the continuation of resurfacing on Trunk Road from Southmarket to Black Road, and extending onto Black Road to a point north of the railway tracks.

Herkimer Road Bridge No. 18 – design only

The design of the replacement of the Herkimer Road bridge was scheduled for 2021. The 2020 biennial bridge inspections have concluded that the replacement can be deferred until the next inspection in 2022. It is therefore recommended that the project be deferred.

Engineering 2022

An allocation for 2022 engineering must be included in the 2021 capital transportation program to ensure 2022 tenders are let on schedule.

Resurfacing – various roads

The miscellaneous construction budget is inadequate to address the resurfacing needs of the City. A request to increase this budget by $500,000 will be submitted in the 2021 budget. An allocation is required in the 2021 capital transportation budget to assist the resurfacing budget for streets in urgent need of a new surface. It is staff’s intention to try to resurface a portion of McNabb Street east of Great Northern Road between Willow and Lake.

Angelina Avenue – Wellington Street East to Caesar Road

Angelina Avenue and its underground infrastructure has far outlived its serviceable life and is in need of complete reconstruction to an urban Class A cross section. It is recommended that design proceed in the event that there are sufficient funds to proceed with it. There may be unallocated funds from the 2020 program, and/or grant funding for other projects not secured at this time. It is recommended that staff proceed with design only until funds can be identified.

Professional services

Professional services for design and contract administration will be required for some 2021 projects. For others, professional services have either already been retained, or the project will be designed and administered in-house. Approval is sought this evening to procure engineering services in accordance with the purchasing bylaw, and recommendations will be brought to council at a future meeting.

Other news from this week's City Council meeting:

• Chris Cooper and Robert Brewer were appointed to the board of directors of the restructured Economic Development Corp.
• the city will contribute $100,000 to help establish an engineering degree program at Sault College
• seven national ensigns will be added to the array of city flags in front of the Ronald A. Irwin Civic Centre, with the city paying all costs out of unallocated funds from this year's budget
• a recommendation from Ward 2 Coun. Matthew Shoemaker, that construction be halted on a traffic light at the entrance to the new Pino's store on Great Northern Road, will be delayed for two weeks after Shoemaker reported that Walmart is now participating in negotiations over access to its driveway
• early renderings of the new downtown plaza were enthusiastically and unanimously approved by City Council
• Avery Construction Ltd. succeeded in getting a city holding provision lifted, as the first step toward a major expansion of the Bar-X Pit and Quarry on Fourth Line West
• last year's Toys for Tickets parking campaign will become a permanent, annual fundraiser for the Stuff-a-Bus fundraiser
• the city will write to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, asking that a new Canada Water Agency be located here
• the city's AA (stable) credit rating is holding firm, COVID-19 notwithstanding
• Mayor Provenzano responded to Monday's surge of 700 new COVID-19 cases, warning about the need for Saultites to remain vigilant