City council will consider Monday whether to devote nearly $5.2 million towards upgrading the 2nd Avenue parkade - a $2.4-million jump over the original estimated cost for the project.
Rising costs for material and labour to the tune of 15-20 per cent combined with the "scope, quantity of concrete repair and contingency," are the reasons for the revised request, staff said in a report to council.
Pending council approval, the extra money would come out of the off-street parking reserve, which is funded through a separate tax on downtown properties. The $2.725 million originally budgeted for the project in 2016 would be funded through debt.
Constructed in the mid-1970s, the parkade is in need of work, according to the report, prepared by City engineering director Adam Homes.
A structural evaluation found concrete delaminating throughout the parkade and wearing traffic surface, posing a risk of water reaching into the structure's reinforced steel. Levels 3 and 4 are a particular worry, according to Homes, saying "structural capacity may be affected."
The parkade, which spans across Brunswick Street, consists of five parking levels with capacity for about 500 vehicles. Currently, 278 stalls are rented out on a month by month basis.
The project would be undertaken in two phases starting in 2019 and completing in 2020.
The full report is posted with this story at www.pgcitizen.ca.
