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CITY OF VANCOUVER
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MEMORANDUM April 22, 2004
TO: |
Mayor and Council |
CC: |
Dave Rudberg, General Manager of Engineering Services
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FROM: |
Peter Judd, Assistant City Engineer, Streets |
SUBJECT: |
Burrard Bridge Seismic Upgrading and Broadway Corridor Reconstruction |
On April 20th the above report was deferred due to delegation requests.
The purpose of the report was to reaffirm Council support for the Burrard Bridge Seismic and Broadway reconstruction projects which had been submitted to the Canada - BC Infrastructure program. In order for the applications to proceed further we are required to provide this indication of support to the program and further to indicate that there is a source of funds available for the City share should the projects be approved.
In the case of the Broadway project we indicated that funds were available in the 2003 to 2005 Streets Capital Plan. These are funds that were approved for street reconstruction.
In the case of the Burrard Seismic project, we could have recommended that funds be approved from the $20 million set aside overall in the 2003 to 2005 Capital Plan for potential cost shared projects. In an unfortunate effort to be fiscally prudent we instead identified the already approved $14 million set aside specifically for the Burrard Bridge rather than expanding the Streets Capital Plan. Our thinking was that work on options for improving pedestrian and cycling facilities on the Burrard Bridge is ongoing and the actual cost and timing of those improvements is uncertain. In the interim, this seemed like a source that would give the Federal and Provincial governments adequate confidence that the Seismic project could proceed if they approved it.
It was not, and is not our intention to reduce our commitment to the Burrard Bridge pedestrian and cycling improvements. It was also not our intention that Council make a final decision on the source of funds. Recommendation B in the report called for staff to report back on a formal allocation of funds if and when the projects were approved through the Infrastructure Program.
The concern that we have heard with the report is that the funds identified for the Burrard Bridge are inappropriate because they will be needed for the originally
intended purpose which is cycling and pedestrian improvements. Recognizing these concerns we propose the following alternative recommendations to B, D and E in the report. These recommendations identify the $20 million fund for cost shared projects as an alternative source for both projects with a report back on a formal allocation of funds if and when the projects are approved by the Infrastructure Program.
B. THAT upon confirmation of Federal and Provincial funding, staff report back to Council seeking a formal allocation of funds to cover the City's share of the Burrard Bridge Seismic Upgrading project costs, including options which would not increase the overall size of the Engineering 2003 - 2005 Capital Plan.
D. THAT Council approve "in principle" the allocation of $2.5 million as an addition to the 2003 - 2005 Engineering Department Capital Plan, from the $20 million approved through the Capital Plan plebiscite for cost shared projects, for the City's portion of funding for the Burrard Bridge Seismic Upgrading project under the Canada - B.C. Infrastructure Program.
E. THAT Council approve "in principle" the allocation of $2 million as an addition to the 2003 - 2005 Engineering Department Capital Plan, from the $20 million approved through the Capital Plan plebiscite for cost shared projects, for the City's portion of funding for the Broadway Corridor Reconstruction project under the Canada - B.C. Infrastructure Program.
Approval of these recommendations does not bind Council to any particular source of funding, but will provide the senior governments with the necessary assurance that the projects will proceed if they are approved through the Infrastructure Program. It is important to provide this assurance as soon as possible as the remaining funds in the Program are being allocated now on a first come first served basis to those projects where support has been reaffirmed.
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P.E. Judd, P.Eng.,
Assistant City Engineer, Streets
Phone: 604-873-7360
PEJ:cb
F:\wpwork\Judd\Burrard Bridge Seismic Upgrade.doc