Cochrane's Centre Avenue/Highway 1A improvement project will have a higher price tag than initially expected after the Town of Cochrane approved $1.1 million in additional funding.
Town council unanimously voted to approve the increase in funding during a March 14 council meeting. The new total cost of the project, which is being carried out over three phases, is $11.4 million.
Administration told council the increase in costs had to do with a rise in material costs and a labour shortage in the construction industry.
"This is directly related to the material and labour cost which was not secured when the project was broken into separate phases," administration said Monday. "The rates for materials such as steel, asphalt, things of that nature, have increased resulting in the additional cost."
"Due to unforeseen increases in material costs, a challenging construction labour market and the impacts of inflation, the ultimate costs to complete this project have increased by $1.1 million," the Town said.
The additional $1.1 million will be sourced from two revenue streams; $220,000 will come from previously unallocated monies from the Canada Community-Building Fund Grant, and the remaining $880,000 will be drawn from the Town's offsite levy reserve.
While the increases are significant, Town staff said if the project were to be re-tendered today, the additional costs would be much higher.
"We would see significantly higher prices than the $1.1 million," staff told council.
"Our team was confident in this being a good outcome for the Town."
Coun. Marni Fedeyko questioned whether the supply chain issues would affect the timeline for the completion of the project. Staff said they expected the project to be completed on time this fall.
