Wednesday Belleville city council will gather around its horseshoe and hammer out a capital budget for 2024.
While there are 30 projects or equipment replacements up for discussion, just three projects blended into one make
up almost 80 per cent of the approximately $70 million budget being proposed by staff.
That project is called the Avonlough Sewage Pumping Station and Conveyance System-Phase One.
Also included with the pumping station on Avonlough Road, and associated sewer lines running along Bridge Street West, will be the reconstruction and widening of the very busy and dangerous Sidney and Bridge street intersection and the reconstruction of Bridge Street West and installation of both sewer and water lines from Highland Avenue to Coleman Street.
All of this will come at an estimated cost of $55 million which will be paid for out of reserve funds, development charges, grants, a federal building fund, taxation debt and user rate debt. The capital budget as a whole is not expected to affect the tax rate or tax increase. Those will be decided during operating budget discussions in the near future.
Phase One of three phases will set the stage for 1,800 new residential units to be built in the Potter’s Creek development area from 2026 to 2034.
Phases Two and Three will allow total development of 9,000 residential units from Potter’s Creek north to Bell Boulevard over the next 25 to 30 years.
The work will also allow major housing and commercial development to occur on the former Ben Bleecker property, the fairgrounds property on the east side of Sidney Street and on vacant land bordered by West Moira and North Palmer streets.
Detailed design of Phase One will be complete by summertime and construction tenders will be issued late next year.
If all goes according to plan, west end residents can expect detours off Bridge Street West, as sewage lines are installed beginning in 2025 and carrying on through 2026 and perhaps into 2027.
When all is said and done, in 2027, Bridge Street West will be smooth sailing, something residents and others alike will appreciate.
