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Costs for Aurora's two underpasses along Leslie Street keep rising

YorkRegion.com
Feb. 7, 2017
Amanda Persico

Construction along Leslie Street between Don Hillock Drive and Broughton Lane is set to start later this year, only after construction along St. John’s Sideroad is complete.

At Aurora’s request the region’s project includes two pedestrian tunnels, which will remain unlit and unconnected for years after. 

“Without easy access and illumination the underpass will not be successful,” said Coun. Wendy Gaertner during a recent committee meeting.

The surrounding trails are not expected to be completed for another five years, said the town’s park manager, Jim Tree.

One underpass is just south of the Newmarket-Aurora border and will connect to future trails on the north side of St. John’s Sideroad.

The second underpass lies north of State Farm Way and will connect to the employment lands in the First Commerce Drive area.

Recently, the town approved an increase in the project budget from $750,000 to $900,000, but that does not include illumination or connections to other trail systems.

Councillors questioned at what point the town should abandon the project.

But these underpasses are vital access point for future trail systems, argued Coun. Sandra Humfreys.

“We should not be wavering from the path we started,” she said. “This is about our future.”

The budget increase stems from the region’s tender process, providing exact figures instead of an estimated guess, Tree said.

“It’s a complicated project,” he added.

The underpasses are part of the town’s trails master plan and are to be built ahead of the connecting trails, tree said.

“The trails won’t be connected for a few years,” he said. “We can add lights at a later date.”

Road construction is expected to be a two-year process and the extended trails are expected to be complete two years after construction is finished.

“Trails are the secondary project,” Tree said.

Leslie Street is to be widened from the current two-lane road to a four-lane road with left and right turn lanes, on-street bike lanes in each direction, new sidewalks and multi-use pathways, LED lighting and a new storm sewer system.