New report details why the downtown parkade is nearly $10 million over budget
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PRINCE GEORGE- The City of Prince George has published an independent report from SSA Quantity Surveyors Ltd on the costs of the George Street Parkade. Last January, the project sparked public backlash against city officials due to a lack of transparency when it came to large cost overruns.
According to the report, reasonable construction costs were listed at $21.6 million. The final construction cost for the parkade is $22,458,437, or approximately 4% more than the probable and reasonable cost estimated by SSA Quantity Surveyors. The original estimated cost from 2017 was $12.6 million. However, that number was based on preliminary designs and projected cost estimates.
According to the City, a number of cost increases were caused by an unexpected increase in US tariffs, a busy construction market and labour shortage, and an increase in the cost of material and labour.
The City says that in order to access to several ongoing projects in the area (pool, housing and parkade), removing asphalt was necessary. As a result, the City took advantage of these projects to find cost efficiencies in the much needed replacement of aging infrastructure and provide a connection to the Downtown Energy System. The underground infrastructure in this area had outlived its useful life and needed replacement to address capacity needs downtown. The total for the infrastructure project was listed as $11,705,050.
