We recently updated the percentages on our website that show how far along each of our rapidway projects are: Highway 7 East is 95%, Highway 7 West [phase one] is 30%, Davis Drive is 70% and Yonge Street is 8%. It might make you scratch your head, since some of these projects appear to be more, or less, advanced than these percentages reflect. And in some cases, progress doesn’t show up in the percentages.
The percentages are updated quarterly, and are based on each project’s budget and how much has been billed. To stay open and transparent about our budgets and project progress, we report these percentages and information about construction milestones to our Board of Directors. Once our quarterly reports are presented to the Board, to Metrolinx, and to York Region Council they’re available to the public [posted here on our website]. There are variations from time to time – for instance, in our most recent report, we reported on the third and fourth quarter of 2014 together because there was no Board meeting in the fall.
As for the progress of each project:
- The Highway 7 East rapidway is fully in service, and now that the snow is gone crews are completing some top-layer paving and sidewalk/landscaping work near Warden Avenue, taking care of the last 5%.
- The percentages for the Davis Drive and Highway 7 West rapidway projects didn’t change between the third and fourth quarters of 2014, but as anyone knows who spends time on these roads, crews have been working through the winter and progress has been made [just not reflected in the budget or billing yet].
- At just 8%, the Yonge Street rapidway is just getting started and for the next several months much of the progress will be with relocating and updating utilities in preparation for road widening.
When working along streets that are heavily travelled, in ever-changing weather, digging into underground infrastructure, there’s always a chance of delays along the way. But by keeping track, and reporting our progress, we can make sure everyone knows how it’s going.
One reply on “numbers, numbers… how we report progress”
If we are now at 70% and that represents about 5 years work/destruction to Newmarket…. that means we’ve only got 1.5years of work/destruction/disruption until we get roads which are worse then they were. YAY! Why restrict the lane and make Davis a one way street… so dumb and not helpful to the people or businesses of Newmarket!!
DaleA: Hi Phil,
We understand your frustration with having a multi-year construction project on Davis Drive. As with all construction projects there are disruptions, but Davis will be improved with these changes. Along with dedicated lanes for transit, the utilities have been updated to benefit the entire community, and Davis will be a tree-lined, walkable place with wider sidewalks. The rapidway is planned to open at the end of this year, followed by some seasonal work like top-coat paving and tree planting in the spring of 2016.