Upgrades coming to Centennial Park trail system

 

The Town of Whitecourt is home to a whopping 50+ kilometres of paved pathways and unpaved trails, giving residents and visitors a great free opportunity to stay safe while being active just by lacing up their sneakers or boots and going for a walk. The walking trails intertwine throughout the municipality, liking uptown with downtown, rural with urban, and neighbourhoods with other neighbourhoods.

One of the most significant single components of the trail system is the walking paths that traverse Centennial Park, which has been part of the community for 25-30 years. The massive expanse has numerous entrance/exists points throughout the Hilltop residential area, bringing users from the edge of town limits at the Forest Interpretive Centre to the edge of the hill that splits the municipality, giving walkers a great view of downtown Whitecourt from Memorial Point. The pathway is considered multi-use and was upgraded from gravel to a paved surface between 2008-2010.

Over the years, with lots of usage and weather, some areas of the Centennial Park network have gotten rough and need attention. The Town of Whitecourt adopted the Centennial Park Pathway Rehabilitation Phase Plan into the 20-Year Capital Plan last year. The phased approach will see the rehabilitation of five kilometres of paved surface that is in a state of deterioration, including drainage improvements, and a widening of the pathway from 2.4m to 3.0m to diversify the usability of the trail. The first phase of the multi-phased plan is set for completion through this year and next year. The second phase will occur through 2024-2025, and the final phase will happen in 2026.

During the October 23 Regular Meeting of Whitecourt Town Council, Juan Grande, Manager of Infrastructure Services, brought forward the results from a recent tendering to find a contractor to complete the necessary improvements. Two companies, E-Construction (a Division of N.P.A. Ltd) and Knelsen Sand and Gravel, sent in bids.

When the bids were first received in September, both exceeded the budget available for the project. A second look-over of the project plan was done, resulting in updates. The newly updated plan was then sent to both compliant bidders to see what their new pricing would be, with a deadline of October 19, 2023. Both responded within the timeline.

Town CAO Peter Smyl said it was great to see the bids come back within the parameters of the available budget. A chunk of the funding for the project will come from the 2023-2025 Operating Budgets, but 60 percent of it will come from the Active Transportation Fund, a federal grant from Infrastructure Canada that funds projects that shift towards active transportation rather than cars.

The Federal Government has set aside $400 million over five years to support expansion and enhancement projects. The term active transportation means the movement of goods or people powered by human activity. The Active Transportation Fund will cover just over 1.1 million dollars of the project, a big win for local ratepayers.

E-Construction bid $1,966,698.53, while Knelsen Sand and Gravel bid $2,619,413.17. Administration recommended that Council award the contract to E-Construction. Councillor Tara Baker asked what the difference would be between the two that would equal over half a million dollars. “Knowing that the quality would not be it, what is the difference? Is it material? Is it labour? Is it time?”

Grande explained that there could be several variables accounting for the difference. “Typically, with E-Construction, their source of materials is out of Whitecourt. All the procurements in terms of the materials used to produce the asphalt originated here. We can only assume that maybe Knelsen doesn’t have a local source versus E-Construction, which already has a site that is well established. They also have contracts from working with the region, so all of those factors are maybe an indicator of pricing. But the major one is definitely the material source being local.”

Council voted in favour of awarding the Centennial Park Pathway Improvements project to E-Construction, a Division of N.P.A. Ltd, for $1,966,698.53 plus GST. “This is going to span over the three-year phase. It’s quite a lengthy project because there is a lot of detail work involved in terms of culverts and erosion control,” explained Smyl.

Phase 1 will involve work along the Centennial Park pathway behind Chickadee Drive, Kimzey Crossing, Baxter Crescent and Feero Drive, ending at the entrance/exit on Sakwatamau Drive and will be completed sometime next year. Phase 2 encompasses the pathway from Heritage Park and the Forest Interpretive Centre to just beyond Park Heights. The third and final phase will include the remaining portions of the path, including the entrance at Beaver Drive, split into 3A, 3B, and 3C, for completion in 2026.