The city of Dryden will use federal gas tax money to offset a budget shortfall for new traffic lights along Highway 17.
The city is replacing eight sets of light, some of which have been in place for 40 years.
Only only bid was received, and that was from Kenora-based Moncrief Construction.
Its initial bid came in at over $1.4 million. With hardware and engineering costs factored in, the total cost of the project came in $600 thousand higher than anticipated.
Public Workers Manager Blake Poole says materials costs had a lot to do with the higher price.
“Pricing just on wiring and a lot of other things were a lot higher. Concrete came in slightly higher. There were a couple of areas though we were a little surprised by, but a lot of it, they said, had to do with the mobilization and demobilization for the contractors,” says Poole.
Poole says they were able to lower the final cost a little but still needed $475-thousand in gas tax money.
The city received a grant last year from the Ministry of Transportation of almost $1.2 million. The city’s share is $133 thousand.
