It Was Mainly About The Water
(Hole at 4th and Dominion being filled following installation of new water main. Photos 250 News)
Prince George, B.C. – The re-vamping of Fourth Avenue, to include changing the one-way street to a two-way traffic flow, received some attention from City crews under the hot Sunday sun.
Fourth Avenue was blocked off from Quebec Street down to George Street as a new water main was installed at the Fourth and Dominion intersection. It was explained that the old water main had to be removed and the new main put in place so that the new Fourth Avenue infrastructure being installed by B.C. Hydro would go on top of the City main.
Crews were on the job at 8 Sunday morning and expected to have this particular project completed by 5 in the afternoon. Sunday was selected, it was explained, to cause the least interruption possible to water service to the businesses in the area, particularly the restaurants which do not open until 4 in the afternoon.
The Fourth Avenue conversion project was originally budgeted at $400,000. However that cost has more than doubled to the $934,000 contained in the lone bid submitted for the job.
We have not been able, so far, to ascertain whether Sunday was a double-bubble day for the City employees who were involved in the water main replacement. As the signs posted on Fourth Avenue say, traffic will face delays through September while work on the conversion proceeds.
Comments
So, if the loan bid was more than twice the original budget, was there any consideration of shelving the project altogether? Or is this a case of rank incompetence at city hall in which the person doing the estimating couldn’t even come up with a guesstimate that was even in the ballpark?
The 4th Ave project is old news now. Can’t complain about something that is already being reconstructed.
complain all we want, it helps us to remember our past and present city hall people. there is an election soon and people should remember the past in order to improve the future.
just a morning thought. have a great day and keep cool.
It is our duty as citizens to question our elected officials. Why was a project budgeted for $400k bid at over double the amount? Either the city grossly under estimated the cost or the lone bidder is grossly over charging knowing they would be the only bidder.
“Why was a project budgeted for $400k bid at over double the amount? Either the city grossly under estimated the cost or the lone bidder is grossly over charging knowing they would be the only bidder.”
My point exactly.
its not the first time the projected budget was so far off base… the city put the bid out for the building heating fiasco and the bids came in so high the city did it themselves.. Incompetance runs rampant at all levels in city hall.
This project (the two-way laning of 4th ave) is completely needless and shouldn’t have even gotten to the bid stage.
Couldn’t this money be better spent on something else? Something we actually need? City Hall is living in a dream world, this is the most useless waste of money in recent memory. Our lovely Mayor will not be missed by me when she leaves, and I will be avoiding her little store like the plague.
I am curious why so many people think 4th ave was a needless project? maybe some explanation from these folks is in order. Along with making the street two way the city will be adding more parking spots(which will eventually be metered, and then bringing in more revenue) and also beautifying the street. Some people only see the word “spend” and get upset.
Make sure you vote, or get into the seat yourself if you think you can do a better job. We vote someone into the Mayor’s seat and council for one reason, to make the tough decisions. Do they make mistakes? Sure.
I’m gonna call all these negative nancys “savists” all they want the city to do is SAVE SAVE SAVE. INFRASTRUCTURE INFRASTRUCTURE INFRASTRUCTURE. get your head outs your butt.
If hydro required then they most likely paid.
phje: “Along with making the street two way the city will be adding more parking spots(which will eventually be metered, and then bringing in more revenue) and also beautifying the street.”
If that’s your best justification for why we need to do this, then that’s a pretty sad statement.
This City needs to reign in spending, especially on projects that tinker with the downtown. We’ve been doing that for 30 years and we’ve got nothing to show for it. I’m not sure why you would support flogging a dead horse.
phje: “I’m gonna call all these negative nancys “savists” all they want the city to do is SAVE SAVE SAVE. INFRASTRUCTURE INFRASTRUCTURE INFRASTRUCTURE. get your head outs your butt.”
The City needs to pay off its debt, not continuing to run up the credit card on useless projects.
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