Councillors from Oakville and Burlington team up to voice displeasure over Metrolinx decision

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Published March 14, 2022 at 1:12 pm

Beginning tonight at 9 p.m. until end of service on Sunday, GO buses will be replacing train service between Oakville and West Harbour GO stations to allow for construction work on the Lakeshore West corridor. METROLINX PHOTO

A pair of city councillors from Oakville and Burlington are teaming up to fight the huge cost increase of a proposed rail underpass on Burloak Dr.

Oakville’s Sean O’Meara and Burlington’s Paul Sharman have made a motion to have Halton Region chair write to the president and CEO of Metrolinx, the Premier of Ontario, the Minister of Transportation and the MPP’s representing Oakville and Burlington requesting their intervention

At issue is a shocking increase in costs to build a new underpass on Burloak Rd. at the GO tracks.

In 2018, the two municipalities and Metrolinx agreed on the project wouldn’t cost more than $60M, according to the councillors’ motion, with Oakville and Burlington’s share being $15M each.

However, just a few weeks ago, Metrolinx staff met with the two mayors and advised them they’d both need to add nearly $30M to bring their total cost to $45M each. Additionally, the length of time to complete the project would go from two to five years.

At the same time, Oakville was told the cost of an adjacent project on Kerr St. had doubled to $233M and the project would be indefinitely delayed.

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