The repair work on a retaining wall above a sidewalk in Port Carling will likely cost the Township around $1 million.
At the Muskoka Lakes Council meeting on Tuesday, Director of Public Works Ken Becking spoke to council about the need to repair a retaining wall above a sidewalk on Medora Street in Port Carling. Becking stated that the provisional repair options on the retaining wall would cost between $800,000 and $1,300,000. He had brought before could a contract to be awarded to Tatham Engineering worth $63,000 to begin design work on a new wall.
Located on the north side of Medora Street, between Armstrong Point Road and Ferndale Road and below Pie Wood Fired PIzza Joint restaurant. the township had built a sidewalk on a slope to facilitate pedestrian traffic on Medora Street. The sidewalk is supported by both an upper and lower retaining wall. In December council was informed that a part of the upper retaining wall had failed and needed to be repaired. Consultants have reviewed the wall and found it unstable and in need of temporary or permanent repairs for safety on the sidewalk and road.
According to Becking the proximity of the retaining wall to the road, to the sidewalk and to the business above makes repair work difficult.
“It is not going to be a very simple project. Quite frankly it’s going to be quite complicated,” Becking said.
Councillor Rob Bosomworth asked Becking if it were possible to simply close the sidewalk rather than conducting the repairs. Citing the odd and unsafe conditions this would create for pedestrians to cross the road as well as the damage to businesses on the north side of Medora Street, Becking advised against permanent closure of the sidewalk. He also stated that whether council decided to close the sidewalk or not the retaining wall would still need to be repaired at sizable costs.
Councillor Ruth-Ellen Nishikawa expressed concern over the lifetime of the wall and if council could plan better for replacing or repairing infrastructure moving forward. She stated that she was surprised at the expensive cost of repairing the wall.
“The price is quite shocking to me,” Nishikawa said.
The lower retaining wall was replaced in 2009 prior to the 2010 G8 Meeting in Huntsville. According to Becking there was previous attempts to replace the upper retaining wall, but pushback from the adjacent business and local residents caused the project to be abandoned.
Bosomworth asked Becking if it were possible to save costs by only repairing the section of wall which has failed, rather than the entire wall.
“There’s only a very small portion of that that has come out from what I saw. And yet I think the proposal will be to replace the whole wall,” Bosomworth said.
Becking stated that the consultants had considered that option but that found that the whole wall had become destabilized.
“They have come to the conclusion that the wall is destabilized nearly along its full length, and that replacement is the only option,” Becking said.
Council approved awarding a contract Tatham Engineering to begin work on geotechnical and design work on a new retaining wall.
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