Plessis underpass delays could leave the city on the hook for millions

WINNIPEG – Millions of dollars in funding could be lost now that the city says it won’t be able to reach key targets in the Plessis Road underpass project

A report that will be presented to the city’s finance committee Friday outlines how delayed the massive project has become.

“The city will continue to work with our engineering services providers and contractors to identify cost and schedule efficiencies,” states the administration report. “However, we will not meet the dates identified in our agreements with Canada and Manitoba and have requested an extension.”

Two lanes of Plessis Road had to be opened to drivers by July 31, 2015. The report now says that won’t happen until October 31, 2015.

Last April the federal government added a condition to its funding requiring two lanes of the road to be opened by the July target or it may pull its funding.

“If the extensions are not approved by Canada, they may suspend or terminate any obligation to contribute to the project and may require the city to reimburse Canada all or in part of the contribution paid by Canada,” states the report.

A similar warning is in the report related to provincial funding.

Ottawa had pledged $25-million dollars. The same amount was promised by the province.

The city has requested an extension of the completion date from both levels of government in hopes of securing the funding.

The initial budget was $77-million dollars. In March, city staff said the project was $6.8-million over budget, a number that has since ballooned to $8.4-million.

The report states the city anticipates to recover the overage from the rail company.

The project was supposed to be completed in 2015 but now the report says the completion date will be no later than March 31, 2017.

Plessis Road has been closed since July 28, 2013.