M.D. council puts Highway 36 Rest Area project out to tender

By Cole Parkinson
Vauxhall Advance
cparkinson@tabertimes.com

Work at the Highway 36 Rest Area is continuing at the Municipal District of Taber but a cost increase for the project is incoming.

At the M.D. of Taber’s regular meeting on April 28, council was apprised of the increased costs for the project.

“As the engineering team continued to refine the design and design requirements of the project, the construction cost estimate also increased,” reads administration’s report.
“The majority of the increase in cost is associated with the development of the two Highway Commercial lots currently owned by the M.D. of Taber. The cost to develop and service these lots may be recouped through future lot sales. The lots are to be serviced with potable water, electricity, and gas. The costs associated with lot development are estimated at $199,139.70. The M.D. of Taber is likely to see more competitive pricing to develop these lots by including this in the same tender as the rest area as compared to an individual project. The total estimated project cost including a 10 per cent contingency is $2,284,448.29.”

The proposed development will include an approximately 6.96 acre paved parking lot with washroom facilities and an area for heavy trucks to pull off the highway for a rest period improving the safety of the travelling public.

The parking lot is also designed to be able to handle the largest truck and trailer configuration that Alberta Transportation allows on their highways.

As far as maintenance of the washroom facilities located at the rest area is concerned, the M.D. would be the party in charge.

“We worked through the cost estimate detail design with our engineering consultant and we ended up considerably higher than what the initial estimate was, which was set at roughly $2 million. I asked them to dial it back and take some of the lipstick off to ensure this project was within the budget, or as close to it as possible. Where we landed was about $2.28 million in total,” explained Craig Pittman, director of infrastructure.

Preliminary cost estimates provided by the engineering consultant were set at $1.9 million, including a contingency cost of $171,000.

There was also an estimated $95,000 for engineer fees for a total estimated cost of $2 million for the entire project.

Alberta Transportation had also indicated to the M.D. that they would be putting the first $1.5 million into the project, with the remainder being funded by the municipality.

“Now where those additional costs are coming from, roughly $200,000, are for some of the plot developments and servicing costs for the two highway commercial lots that are associated to this rest area,” continued Pittman. “Alberta Transportation has made it very clear right from the beginning that they are only paying for the rest area costs and those costs are acceptable to them that provide access or are part of the rest area itself. In the cost estimate you see, we have separated them out, so we require a little bit more money so these lots are serviced.”

A motion to put the project out to tender was carried unanimously.

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