The planned replacement of the 9th Street bridge in Owen Sound has a new component.
City Council has approved a plan to also simultaneously reconstruct the stretch of road between 2nd Avenue East and 2nd Avenue West.
The proposal — recommended to council by city operations director John Johnston from among six alternatives — will cost an estimated 3.4 million dollars.
The price includes the cost of relocating existing telephone and hydro utilities, building stabilization and the installation of a water main on 9th Street, as well as an in-bridge sanitary sewer.
The latter feature, according to a report by Johnston, has the potential of diverting up to 25 per cent of the current west-side sanitary flows that currently go east.
Council chose a pre-cast girder bridge as opposed to a cast-in-place barrel arch bridge — which would have cost more.
City Manager Jim Harrold says the option chosen by council was in his opinion the best choice — for reasons of price, design and functionality.
The work is slated to be done next year.