(Posted 6:30 a.m., July 15)
Local councillor unable to convince colleagues to cancel controversial traffic circle
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online

The controversial roundabout planned for Jeanne d'Arc and St. Joseph boulevards is going ahead after Orléans Ward Coun. Bob Monette failed to convince his colleagues to cancel the project at a city council meeting on Wednesday.

Council had to revisit the roundabout after staff revealed that they had underestimated the cost of the project by $750,000. It had been estimated that the traffic circle would cost $1.75 million, but staff now say that the price tag will be closer to $2.5 million.

Rather than balk at the new figure, council voted to allocate an extra $800,000 to the project to ensure that adequate funding remained to carry out other streetscaping improvements planned for St. Joseph.

The $2.5 million originally allocated to St. Joseph Blvd. was approved as part of the Stimulus Infrastructure Program last spring. Of the figure, approximately one third each is coming from the provincial and federal levels of government while the remaining third is be being paid by the municipality.

Because the new funding requirement was not part of the original "ask for" submitted by the city, the municipality will have come up with the extra $800,000 itself. However, the city can use any infrastructure money it may have leftover from projects that proceed under budget.

The additional $800,000 will be used for improvements to the intersections at St. Joseph and Orléans Blvd. and St. Joseph and Place d'Orléans Dr.

(This story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local business partners.)

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