Primarily, the cost overruns are being associated with land remediation, extensions to soundwalls, pathways connections and landscaping. However, what is not clear is whether these costs were originally planned for and are the result of poor management, or if the additional expenditures are the result of new items that have been added onto the project.

Alderman Brian Pincott is upset because one cost was not included in the original budget at all. The City of Calgary has a standing policy that one per cent of an infrastructure project’s cost must be directed to procuring art for the asset. Under this policy about $8.6 million should have been allocated for purchasing art for LRT stations. However, this cost was apparently not included in the original budget and has currently not been included in the revised cost of the project.

The West LRT line is undergoing testing right now and is expected to open early in 2013. The tests included running LRT vehicles along the lines and testing the supporting infrastructure, such as crossing arms and signalling systems.

According to Janice Skot, CEO of RVH, “After more than a decade of planning, fundraising and construction the region’s dream is a reality. The expansion of RVH will provide Simcoe Muskoka residents with enhanced services and timely access to healthcare closer to home. Our provincial government — the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, along with our colleagues at Infrastructure Ontario — has demonstrated its outstanding commitment to safe, quality healthcare for our region’s residents.”

The expansion cost $370 million and ranked 73 on the 2012 Top 100 list. The project was completed using a Build-Finance model, which was organised and executed by Carillion Construction.

The PHAI consists of a massive clean up and remediation of over one million cubic metres of soil that was contaminated due to radium and uranium processing at a site in the Port Hope area.

Upcoming work includes three major road upgrade contracts, a wastewater treatment plant, and a long-term waste management facility.

Another contract that will go out eventually has to do with the required inspection of close to 4,500 homes in the area. As part of the plan to ensure as much contamination is removed as possible, 4,500 homes will be inspected, including:, with tests ranging from soil sampling, wipe testing inside the home for various contaminants, and tests for radon gas.

In all, van Veen expects that close to 10 per cent of those homes will require some level of remediation. Possible remediation options for the homes could include major soil excavation from 1 foot to several metres, drywall removal, the removal of timber/beams, and floor removal.

According to van Veen, in the 1930s and 1940s when many of these homes were built, there was an excess of timber at the nearby uranium/radium processing site and many people constructing their homes used the wood without realizing that it was contaminated.

This project amalgamated the Eglinton LRT and Scarborough RT conversion to LRT and put the entirety of the Eglinton portion underground. However, with the recent shift in support at Toronto’s city council to go back to a focus on LRT, rather than the subways advocated for by the mayor, Metrolinx will again proceed with the Eglinton and Scarborough projects separately.

For the Eglinton portion of the LRT system Metrolinx will continue with the Design, Bid, Build (DBB) tenders for tunnel construction, which will be starting in late summer 2012. However, the DBB format will only be used for tunnel construction, the remainder of the project will be examined by Infrastructure Ontario to consider the feasibility of delivering the remainder of the project through an Alternative Financing and Procurement program.

The report also describes the progress that has been made to date on the project. This includes the purchasing of the old Kodak Lands for a LRT storage and maintenance yard, the start of construction on the tunnel boring machine launch site, along with the ordering of the LRT vehicles, tunnel liners, tunnel boring machines, and extensive geotechnical testing.

“With the selection of Plenary Health as preferred proponent, we are excited to be moving forward with the conclusion of negotiations for building the new heart and surgical centre,” said Interior Health board chair Norman Embree. “This new centre brings us closer to our goal of developing the KGH site into a world-class health care campus that serves the entire Interior Health region.”

Demolition work for the project is expected to begin in summer 2012 at the completion of a performance based agreement. The new facility will include 15 operating rooms, 2 of which will be dedicated for cardiac surgeries. The IHSC building will be constructed at the corner of Pandosy Street and Rose Avenue. The existing Pandosy building will be demolished to make way for the new IHSC building.

The 407 East Development Group won the contract and consists of a consortium of companies including SNC Lavalin and Cintra Infraestructuras S. A.. Both are the current lease holders on the existing 407 highway. In a considerable diversion from the current operating model, the province will retain full control over fees and operations of the highway. The existing section of the 407 was sold by the previous government for a one time fee, in exchange for a 99 year lease.

Infrastructure Ontario and the ministry of transportation are currently in negotiations with the preferred bidders and they are expected to wrap up in the spring of 2012. According to transportation and infrastructure minister Bob Chiarelli “Today is an important step forward in our commitment to extend Highway 407 East. This project is part of the McGuinty government’s long-term infrastructure plan and demonstrates our commitment to creating jobs,  strengthening the economy and building strong communities.”

Leading up to the vote had been considerable politicking by both Toronto mayor Rob Ford and his executive team. Principally, Ford’s argument for subways had three dominant themes. The first was that subways carry more people than LRT’s and do not impede the flow of traffic. The second reason he stated was that people do not like streetcars.

The mayor repeatedly compared subways to the current fleet of streetcars that are operated on Toronto’s roads.  He did not mention any of the substantial differences between light rail technology and streetcars, which include dedicated rights-of-way, higher speeds, greater passenger capacity, and fewer stops. The final argument that Ford made in promoting his subway line was initially that the private sector would pay for it through a public private partnership.

However, that argument had significant opposition from many councillors because he would not provide a detailed plan for raising the necessary revenue to fund the P3. Ford and his executive team had advocated building the subway stops and leveraging the construction to develop a public private partnership to build out the remainder of the subway line. He stated that if “you put a shovel in the ground, investors will come, funding will come, it’s all going to come.” Of course, a P3 does not mean that the private sector will hand out the funds necessary for construction; they require the government to demonstrate the ability to pay for the construction over the length of the contract, generally 30 years.

Several councillors, such as Josh Matlow and Karen Stintz, had initially been willing to work with the mayor to build his subway line. But, they turned their support to the LRT plan when the mayor refused to agree to any new taxes or fees to raise the necessary revenues. Because the LRT line was fully funded and planned, they began advocating for the LRT line.

Even Ford’s staunchest supporters became disappointed with the unwillingness of the mayor to compromise on finding a new tool to raise revenue. Councillor and city budget chief Mike Del Grande introduced a motion to introduce a parking levy that would be dedicated exclusively to funding transit; he suggested that the levy could raise $100 million per year.

However, Ford refused to support the motion and did not discuss it or display any willingness to introduce new revenue tools to fund his subway plan. While many councillors appear to have been willing to introduce a new tax or fee to pay for the Sheppard subway, without a mayor that was willing to compromise or work with council, the majority of councillors voted to build an LRT that already has full funding and the necessary regulatory approvals in place.

The panel included David Crombie Chair, Toronto Lands Corporation; Professor Eric Miller Director, Cities Centre, University of Toronto; Dr. Gordon Chong CEO, Toronto Transit Infrastructure Ltd.; Mitzie Hunter CEO, Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance; Prabha Khosla Chair, Toronto Women’s City Alliance; Israt Ahmed Community Planner – Scarborough, Toronto Social Planning; and Ernie McCullough Executive Director, Sheppard East Village BIA. With the exception of Gordon Chong, the panel was unanimous in its support for the development of a LRT system.

Not surprisingly, Gordon Chong, a supporter of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, disagreed with the conclusions of the report. Separately, Chong had a report commissioned and drafted that proposed that subways are the best choice. A number of news organisations have reported that Chong became upset when the panel would not include his report in its entirety in the appendix of the panel’s report. Instead, the panel included a hyperlink to Chong’s report, which is consistent with how all of the other reports used in the development of their recommendation were referenced.

Mayor Rob Ford has pre-emptively rejected the recommendation of the panel because he stated that all of the panel members are “biased” towards subways. The report will be used by city councillors to inform them of the options available to the city, prior to a vote on March 21^st that will determine whether the city moves ahead with a subway or LRT on Sheppard Ave.

This phase includes the construction of a full scale mock nuclear reactor, the development of special tools needed for the refurbishment, procurement of components for the first refurbishment, and the development of the project schedule and budget for the second phase.

The second phase, known as the Execution Phase, will involve the physical refurbishment of all four reactors over a period of seven years, beginning in 2016 through to 2023. While the price for the refurbishment of the Darlington reactors has yet to be determined, the recent refurbishment of the single reactor at Point Lepreau Nuclear in New Brunswick has so far cost $2.4 billion.