Hamilton’s Red Hill inquiry tab to grow by millions in 2022

Hamilton | Ontario | Latest News | Politics | Traffic |

By

Published December 7, 2021 at 6:58 pm

The City of Hamilton’s costs for the Red Hill Valley Parkway inquiry could reach $20 million by the end of next year, a report shows.

A report that will be presented to the city’s general issues committee on Wednesday (Dec. 8) gives an update on the cost of the inquiry, which was ordered in 2019 after a damning report about the RHVP’s safety was brought to light. It came out that, for over five years, the city never informed the public about a November 2013 report from Tradewind Scientific that found “nearly all areas of the (RHVP) have friction values below or well below” the recommended level, creating a safety hazard for motorists.

So far, there have been $11.11 million in costs associated with the
Inquiry. The city expects to incur an additional $6.66 million to $6.92
million in costs over a period from last month to next August. That would put the total cost in the $18M to $20M range.

The projection is based on estimates provided by the commission counsel and the city’s external counsels. The costs are being covered through a tab stabilization fund.

The report also gives a timeline for the next stages of the inquiry, which is being presided over by Justice Herman J. Wilton-Siegel.

  • The document collection and interviewing witness stages of the judicial inquiry are expected to be completed prior to the end of the first quarter of
    2022.
  • The hearing stage of the judicial inquiry should commence during the second quarter of 2022.
  • The report stage could potentially conclude prior to the end of the calendar year 2022.

City staff are also recommending the creation of a full-time RHVP communications officer. A year’s salary for the communications officer would run $115,000.

Shortly after the report came to light, the city pushed up the schedule for resurfacing work, and reduced the speed limit on the RHVP. The resurfacing was completed in the summer of 2019, and speed limit on the entire RHVP is now 80 km/h.

A class-action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of crash victims and their families, seeking damages from the City of Hamilton.

insauga's Editorial Standards and Policies advertising