BWG triggers County to move up 5th Line intersection upgrades

New Tecumseth Free Press Online

A multi-faceted infrastructure expansion in Bradford West Gwillimbury (BWG) will require Simcoe County to push forward planned improvements to the intersection of Cty Rd 27 and the 5th Line.

The project was scheduled for construction in 2016 and 2017 timed with BWG’s original schedule, but that Town council’s decision last month to trigger an estimated $199 million upgrade to roads, water and wastewater, front-ended by development interests, includes a new interchange at Hwy 400 and the 5th Line.

A component of that which falls on the County is the intersection upgrade at Cty Rd 27 and the 5th Line, which will include widening, turning lanes and the installation of traffic signals. Initially estimated to cost $3.43 million, it’s now expected the total cost will reach $5.74 million to accommodate “grade changes required to improve the safety of the intersection … require the construction of significant retaining walls in order to avoid major impacts to property owners,” according to the County staff report to council on next week’s agenda.

The revised schedule would see completion of design and property acquisition this year, at a cost of $550,000. Site preparation, fencing, and utility relocation in 2015 at $543,100; and Construction, $4.6 million, in 2016.

“This in turn requires increased public consultation with affected landowners, increased construction costs for the retaining walls, increased geotechnical testing, groundwater monitoring and additional stormwater management design.”

The work could also hasten the “best efforts agreement” between New Tecumseth and Simcoe County to upload the 10.5 km stretch of the 5th Line between County Road 10 (Tottenham Road) and the boundary with Bradford West Gwillimbury to provide the County with an uninterrupted east-west link from Highway 27 to Highway 50.