Cost of Kanata road widening grows secretly, councillor says

Citycouncillorsare being asked to increase the budget for a controversial road-widening project inKanataSouth by $4 million, according to one city councillor for the area but they don't know it.

The $38.7-millionKanataSouth Link project involves widening Old Richmond Road and West Hunt Club Road to Highway 416 in order to alleviate major traffic congestion caused bynew housing developments.

The roads are currently two lanes wide, and theyact as a major commuter route through the greenbelt in a quickly developing part of the suburbs.

They alsorunintoCoun. RickChiarelli's ward.He told CBC News it took him nearly a week of digging to discover the cost of the project had ballooned by $4 million because it'snot apparent in the budget documents.

Chiarellisaid he was never alerted to the increase, which is set to be approved in the 2018budget on Wednesday.

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The project also runs throughCoun. ScottMoffatt's andCoun. AllanHubley's wards as well.

Hubleydid not respond toCBC'srequest for an interview.Moffattsaid he got an emailfrom city staff the day after the budget was tabled, alertinghim the project needed more funds.

But it didn'tinclude how much more would be needed, he said.

Cost increased behind the scenes

Back in2016 and 2017, city council allocated $14.7 million to carry out thedesign and engineering workandto acquire the property needed for the project.

The 2018draft budget asks for an additional $24 million to begin construction on the widening for Old Richmond Road and other road improvements.

In an emailed statement, Alain Gonthier, the city's director of infrastructure services, said now that the design work is well underway, the city has a better idea of what the project costs.

Chiarellisaid theestimate, however, is $4 million more than originally anticipated.CBC asked city officials for the initial cost of the total project, but they did not respond to the request.

In an email toChiarelli's office, city staff justified the expense after explaining there weren't enough funds to complete all of the road widening.

"If we added the $4 million to what we had allocated, we could build a partial construction scenario with less throw away in the future. Therefore it made sense to add this amount to the total," the email read.

It was a response, Chiarelli said, that didn't make any sense.

"I'm thinking of sending that away for translation," said Chiarelli, adding he was still trying to figure out why the cost of the project has gone up.

Coun. JeanCloutiersaidcouncillorsshould always be made aware if there are major changes to the scope or price of a project.

"It is imperative that the local councillor, the responsible committee and council be aware of these changes and be able to make the final decision to contain the costs associated with the project,"Cloutiersaid.

Meanwhile,the vast majority of the road widening will be paid using development charges. The city's share of the 2018 funds is $1.2 million.

Controversial project

The city had initiallyplanned a more direct route between the new homes and the highway.

That plan would have seen Hope Side Road extended through the Greenbelt, but the National Capital Commission deemed it too environmentally destructive.

Instead, the city decided to widen the existing route that runs from Hope Side Road tothe highway and install roundabouts to keep traffic moving.

But some critics said even that planwill have too great an impact on the natural area a possible habitat of the threatened Blanding's turtle species.

Trevor Hach, a board member with the Healthy Transportation Coalition, was one of several people who asked council to put a stop to the project during budget consultations, arguing it wastoo expensive and would hurt the environment.

"There's all sorts of concerns relating to the increased amount of vehicle lanes and the impact that will have on the species at risk," Hachsaid.

Budget as frustrating as Ikea instructions

What critics didn't know was that the cost of the project had grown, because it wasn't apparent in the capital budget documents.

The capital budget doesn't reveal the total cost of projects, or how that cost changes year to year. This year's budget simply lists the amount of funds deemed necessary in 2018.

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It's as frustrating as the instructions for IKEA products the difference being IKEA actually wants you to be able to put it all together,- Coun. Rick Chiarelli

"It's as frustrating as the instructions for IKEA products the difference being IKEA actually wants you to be able to put it all together,"Chiarellisaid.

"We're supposed to be priding ourselves on openness and transparency, but there's no point in being open and transparent and then not supply the information."

While most of the focus has been on the operating budget this year, the capital budget has proven difficult to decipher, even forcouncillors.

"For the average person out there, it's virtually impossible," saidCoun. Catherine McKenney.

Officials from the city's treasury department were not available for an interview.