The city still owes nearly $70 million for the construction of the Red Hill and Lincoln Alexander parkways and won’t be debt free from the projects until 2026. The annual repayments, currently at nearly $12 million a year, along with the massive shortfall in maintenance of other city infrastructure present significant financial obstacles to recent proposals that the two expressways now be expanded to six lanes each.
In response to queries from CATCH, finance staff provided data showing outstanding expressway debt as of the end of last year was $68.7 million. The 2015 debt charge is $11.9 million with slightly less than half scheduled to be funded from the collection of development charges.
The provincial government paid about 50 percent of the half billion dollar expressways bill, so it is likely that Queen’s Park is paying off a similar amount of debt. The city costs also don’t include annual maintenance, or emergency repairs such as those caused when the valley road flooded several times, or the $1.1 million being spent this year to fix erosion problems in King’s Forest Golf Club for the fourth time.
Some rush hour congestion on the two roads has generated calls for speedy expansion to six lanes each. Estimated construction cost for the widening has been reported as $80 to $100 million. Debt costs would be additional to that amount as city finances dictate that the monies would almost certainly have to be borrowed.
Earlier this year, city staff confirmed the accumulated shortfall in maintenance of existing infrastructure now exceed $3 billion and continues to grow by about $200 million annually. Lack of funds is limiting repair and reconstruction of major roads and a complete cessation of replacement work on local streets.
Total roads spending in 2015 is $100 million, but that has still left $120 million in unfunded pavement projects alone, plus significant deficits in other city infrastructure. The crisis has left councillors accusing staff of improper priorities, and the head of public works warning that the city may have to allow some roads to “go back to gravel”.
Opponents of the valley expressway opened in 2007 argued the project would beggar the ability of the city to fix existing roads and other infrastructure. The State of the Infrastructure reports initiated in 2005 confirmed that annual spending fails to meet the requirements for repair and replacement.
The latest was published last year and gives roads and bridges a C minus rating. It says the situation is worsening for the $5.2 billion of city assets in this category, and not improving in any other category.
Nevertheless, spending on new roads to facilitate growth occupies a fifth of this year’s pavement budget and is projected to consume a third of next year’s and approaching half in 2017. At this point, there is no money earmarked in the ten year forecast for widening the two parkways.
The current parkway construction debt payments account for nearly a fifth of the $60 million in servicing charges the city must pay this year. Total city debt is expected to jump over $200 million this year alone to $571 million and is on track to hit $855 million by 2017 as spending on the upgraded and expanded sewer treatment facilities kicks into high gear. The projections show total debt will remain at least twice as high as 2014 levels for at close to a decade.
Numerous researchers contend that road widening induces more traffic in a never-ending vicious circle of debt, construction delays, more vehicle trips, and another push to expand again. The induced or “generated traffic” reflects the law of supply and demand. Wider roads initially reduce congestion and travel time and thus attract trips from other routes or travel methods, and “encourage longer and more frequent travel”. They also subsidize residential sprawl by helping convince people they can live farther from their employment and other travel destinations.
Uncomfortable truth
A free public forum on murdered and missing indigenous women is taking place on Monday evening in City Hall council chambers, sponsored by the local chapter of the Council of Canadians. Starting at 7 pm, the forum features Dr Pamela Palmater, a Mi’kmaw lawyer and the chair in indigenous governance at Ryerson University.