The replacement of half of the crosswalks in downtown Kemptville will have to wait.
Officials with the Municipality of North Grenville say that during the budget process, it was estimated that replacing eight of the heritage crosswalks with the decorative brick patterns would cost about $45,000. However, the bid returned for the work was $18,000 per crosswalk. It would cost almost $300,000 to replace all sixteen crosswalks over multiple years.
Due to the higher costs, staff came back to members of council during Tuesday’s Committee of the whole meeting to explain that the rehabilitation project won’t be happening in 2017.
Director of Public Works Karen Dunlop says that one of the cheaper alternatives would be to use paint at the crosswalks.
The life expectancy for those crosswalks would be one to two years which explains the annual cost for all 16. The life expectancy for the heritage type crosswalks is seven to 10 years.
Deputy-Mayor Barb Tobin said she doesn’t believe the extra costs to be worthwhile.
Tobin said the crosswalks with the yellow hash marks also have another positive effect.
The project will be revisited by staff and members of council at a later date.