/Tracing increasings roads costs in Minden Hills 

Tracing increasings roads costs in Minden Hills 

By Chad Ingram

The price of roads work in Minden Hills has increased substantially during the past five years.

Roads director Travis Wilson gave councillors a five-year cost comparison for his department during their Nov. 12 committee-of-the-whole meeting.

Minden Hills’s roads department has a full-time staff contingent of 12 and is responsible for nearly 275 kilometres of roads throughout the township.

Wilson told councillors that construction costs bottomed out in 2009 following the recession and that with heavier demand for work since rates have been slowly climbing.

Between 2010 and 2015 the cost of one kilometre of hot mix asphalt rose by 13 per cent from about $80000 to about $93000.

The cost of a kilometre of double surface treatment has risen from just less than $20000 to just less than $27000.

The cost for 4.5 kilometres of surface-treated road has increased from $141000 to $187000 a difference of $46000 or 32 per cent.

The price tag for paving 4.5 kilometres rose from $414000 in 2010 to $482000 in 2015 an increase of 16.5 per cent.

The cost of insurance for the department has risen from $45000 to nearly $64000 during the same time period.

In 2011 the township’s roads budget was $2.1 million with a $250000 contribution from reserves. For 2015 it was $2.5 million with a $281000 contribution from reserves.

Minden Hills’s estimated roads reserve at the end of 2015 is $683000.