On Monday, Clr. Chad Collins stated at Public Works Committee that staff told him the cost of the Downtown Dedicated Bus Lane was “nearly a half-a-million” when the original budget was $300,000.
I followed up with Public Works General Manager Gerry Davis and staff.
This would represent a concerning amount over-budget.
Collins said today there was a human error that give him the budget line for the Cannon Bike Track. The Downtown Bus Lane and Cannon Bike Track have nearly identical budget line numbers.
Davis says the amount spent on implementing the bus lane is approximately $245,000.
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TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site (https://thepublicrecord.ca/2014/12/bus-lane-at-245k-human-error-resulted-in-budget-line-confusion/)
Didn’t Metrolinx give the City $300k toward the installation of this bus lane? I’m not sure exactly how that transaction works, but doesn’t that mean that either:
a) the City has made a PROFIT of $55k on the bus lane, or
b) there is a $55,000 balance available within the bus lane budget to make adjustments so that the bus lane works better for a greater number of people and businesses?