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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, Ja nu ar y 3, 20 19 | 26 General $8.50 | Children & Seniors $6.50 | All seats Tues $5.00 171 Speers Road, Oakville (at Kerr St.) 905-338-6397 (MEWS) www.film.ca Aquaman (PG) Fri - Thu: 12:45, 3:40, 6:50, 9:45 Bumblebee (PG) Fri - Mon: 1:40, 4:10, 7:05, 9:30 Tue: 1:40, 4:30, 7:20, 9:50 Wed: 1:40, 4:10, 7:05, 9:30 Thu: 1:40, 4:10, 9:30 Mary Poppins Returns (G) Fri: 10:30 AM, 1:10, 3:50, 6:30, 9:15 Sat - Mon: 1:10, 3:50, 6:30, 9:15 Tue: 1:10, 3:50, 6:35, 9:20 Wed & Thu: 1:10, 3:50, 6:30, 9:15 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (PG) Fri: 10:40 AM, 1:30, 4:30, 7:05, 9:30 Sat - Thu: 1:30, 4:30, 7:05, 9:30 Green Book (PG) Fri - Sun: 3:15, 6:20, 9:00 Mon - Thu: 1:00, 3:45, 6:20, 9:00 Dr. Seuss' The Grinch (G) Fri: 11:10 AM, 1:00 Sat & Sun: 1:00 PM Film.CA CinemAS ShowTimeS For JAnUArY 4, 2019 - JAnUArY 10, 2019 MacNeil Guitar Lessons MacNeil Guitar Lessons CALL US TODAY! Happy Holidays! GIFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE All Styles,Technique &Theory Daytime & Evening Times Available ALL LeveLS Private and Beginners - Advanced STePHeN MACNeIL Teaching all levels for over 20 years Beginner - Advanced 1312 Speers Rd, Oakville 905-334-5092 www.mglessons.com The Town of Oakville is moving ahead with the Kerr Street grade separa- tion project despite the costs ballooning to more than double what was pre- viously forecast. On April 19, Oakville council voted to give the town chief administrative officer and solicitor au- thority to execute agree- ments with public transit authority Metrolinx on the fundamentals of the pro- posed rail underpass. At that time it was re- ported the Town of Oak- ville and Metrolinx would share the estimated project cost of around $70 million. In that scenario Oak- ville's share of this project cost would have been $34.9 million. The situation has since changed with town staff noting during a December meeting of the 2019 budget committee that the project cost is now $130 million. As such the town's share of the costs have grown to a fixed contribution of $65 million. The project boundaries have also been revised to extend from the south side of Wyecroft Road to the south side of Speers Road. Town staff said the pre- liminary estimate did not include things like the up- dated costs for utility relo- cation and rail diversion. The cost of environmen- tal protection contingen- cies, indirect land costs, the cost of streetscaping features and the cost of a modified storm sewer out- fall to Sixteen Mile Creek were also not included in the previous calculations. The revised construc- tion cost estimate is now listed at $90 million while the cost of acquiring the land needed for the project is now estimated at $40 mil- lion. "The preliminary esti- mate that was provided earlier included construc- tion and direct land acqui- sition costs for the various impacted Kerr Street prop- erties, however, it did ex- clude the indirect land re- quirements. Those are costs associated with things such as injurious af- fection, disturbance or re- location damages," said Jill Stephen, acting director of engineering and construc- tion with the Town of Oak- ville. "In addition, we have more information now on temporary and permanent easement requirements. Those only became clear after the concept design was refined." Stephen said it is very difficult to estimate the in- direct land acquisition costs noting settlements with the property owners, tenants and mortgagees can take years to finalize. When asked by Ward 4 town and regional Coun. Allan Elgar why more of the land costs were not fac- tored in earlier town chief administrative officer Ray Green noted the land re- quirements for the project have grown tremendously. "If you look at the Kerr Street grade separation and compare it to any grade separation in the GTA, it is the most com- plex," said Green. "If you look at the east curb line of the road, it sits right on the edge of the val- ley. The amount of the work that has to be done ... the shifting of the road ... now that we've got a final detailed design the land re- quirements and the impact of the land requirements are quite severe." When Ward 6 town Coun. Natalia Lishchyna asked about the impor- tance of the project and traffic levels on Kerr Street she was told that in 2016 this section of Kerr Street was used by 15,000 to 17,000 vehicles per day. Town staff have previ- ously stated an increase in rail and road traffic in this area has led them to con- clude that a four-lane un- derpass is necessary to re- place the existing level crossing. Stephen said 80 per cent of the costs of the town's share of the project will be paid through development charges while 20 per cent will come from other town sources. She noted the increase in the project cost has put pressure on the town's re- serves and recommended $10 million of these costs funded through develop- ment charges be debt fi- nanced. Stephen called for these debt charges to be repaid through future develop- ment charge collections. The town's contribution will not be paid until 2023- 2024. The 2019 budget com- mittee ultimately voted to pre-approve this project so Metrolinx can begin secur- ing needed contracts. On Monday, Dec. 17 Oak- ville council voted to direct the town solicitor to negoti- ate and settle a construc- tion agreement and a real property acquisition agreement with Metrolinx for the Kerr Street grade separation project. They also directed the town solicitor to negotiate and settle land purchase agreements with landown- ers for the acquisition of lands required for the pro- ject at 700 Kerr St., and 656 Kerr St. According to Metrolinx, preliminary work on the project will start in 2019 with construction of the underpass starting as early as the spring of 2020. That work will take up to three years to complete. Under the current plan the existing road align- ment will remain in place during construction while the new road is built to the west. Town staff said the principles of the Burloak grade separation cost shar- ing agreement have not materially changed and staff are working with the City of Burlington and Met- rolinx to finalize and exe- cute that agreement. KERR STREET UNDERPASS PROJECT MOVING FORWARD DESPITE COSTS DOUBLING DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com NEWS CONSTRUCTION CURRENTLY SCHEDULED TO START AS EARLY AS SPRING 2020 Metroland file photo