Cox Construction awarded $3.47-million contract for road renewal project

WELLINGTON COUNTY – County council has awarded Cox Construction with a tax-in $3.47 million roadwork contract.

Six kilometres of Wellington Road 22, between 2nd Line and Hilltop Boulevard in Erin, will be “renewed” by the Guelph-based company, according to a report submitted to council.

A durable asphalt mix will be used, with a half inch of stone. Culvert replacements will also be a part of the renewal project.

The county received four bids for the second-phase project in April, with Cox submitting the least expensive bid. The others were from Capital Paving Inc., The Murray Group, and Coco Paving.

Phase one work, running from Wellington Road 26 to 2nd Line, was completed last year at a construction cost of $1.7 million.

The overall cost of the multi-phase project, is pegged at $5.65 million, which is over the $5.12 million budgeted for the completed project in the county’s 2019-22 budgets.

The $530,000 overage considers a $341,700 contingency factored in to the cost, meaning the project’s unpredicted overage comes out to $188,300.

To pay for the additional cost, roads reserves are further being tapped.

The tax levy covers $510,000 of the project cost and provincial taxpayer dollars, made available through an infrastructure fund, are covering $3.39 million of the project, or over half of the cost.