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The next step for the busy stretch of McKeown Avenue from Cartier Street to the roundabout at Gormanville Road — to be widened to four lanes and attain arterial road status — will be examined by municipal politicians, Tuesday.
Following a staff recommendation, North Bay City Council will be asked during its regular meeting to approve a $477,140 contract to R.V. Anderson Associates Limited for engineering consulting services for the design and environmental assessment amendment related to the reconstruction of McKeown Avenue.
The Cartier to Gormanville section is the sole remaining part of McKeown (between Algonquin Avenue and Gormanville) that has yet to be reconstructed to an arterial standard. The associated staff report notes "existing traffic volumes have reached or exceeded the available road capacity, which has accentuated the deteriorated road structure and corridor deficiencies resulting in unsafe travelling conditions."
"McKeown is busting at the seams. It's fully built out. You have the hospital that has 2,200 employees plus you have friends and family that visit the hospital, college, and university. You have government offices and retail so it's completely built out," Mayor Al McDonald said upon the announcement of the project in August 2020.
The project has been on the radar of local politicians for several years.
"The traffic congestion happens when it goes from four lanes to two," McDonald added, "so we're going to open it up to the roundabout but it really strengthens the infrastructure in the busiest part of our town."
See related: Funding may mean a four-lane project for McKeown Avenue
The overall McKeown Avenue road reconstruction and widening project has been approved for funding through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP): Rural and Northern Stream. Under this program, 83.33 per cent of eligible costs will be funded by the provincial and federal governments up to a
combined maximum contribution of $4.166 million. The staff report advises the City of North Bay risks having to forfeit the time-sensitive ICIP funding if the design and engineering contract is not awarded.
The balance of the project will be funded by the City. There are lines in the 2022 budget for a forecasted project cost of approximately $6.4 million. This is an estimate that includes design, construction, soft costs and contingencies but final costs will depend on bids once the project is tendered.
The contract covers design and engineering services for the project that includes the widening of McKeown from Cartier to the Gormanville roundabout approach and transformation to an arterial roadway from the existing two-lane urban roadway. The scope of the project also includes reconstruction of the existing pavement, curbs, boulevards, sanitary sewer, and watermain, as well as the construction of the two new lanes, storm sewers for the additional road width and added active transportation facilities such as multi-use pathways and sidewalks.
Although an initial environmental assessment completed in 1999 called for four lanes plus a centre left-turn lane as required roadway improvements, an updated traffic impact study performed in 2006 omitted the centre turning lane.
An amendment to the Environmental Study Report — covered by this contract — is required to ensure all requirements of the EA process have been satisfied. An update to the 2006 traffic impact study is also required, according to the report, to confirm that the four-laning of McKeown Avenue is still the recommended design approach now that all vacant lands on McKeown Avenue have been developed.
Following a formal bid request, four proposals were evaluated by the City taking experience, qualifications, response to the scope of work, and price into consideration. The bid from R.V. Anderson Associates Limited scored the highest, was considered fair and reasonable, and was deemed to provide the best overall value.
