Tory wants Queens Quay cost overruns explained
Posted December 12, 2014 6:05 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Mayor John Tory has asked his deputy mayor to find out how the Queens Quay revitalization ended up about $36 million over budget — information overseeing body Waterfront Toronto sat on for about a year.
It was only on Thursday when the city learned about the almost 40-per-cent cost overrun, although Waterfront Toronto knew about it in February.
There have been dozens of unplanned expenses, many discovered after the project began more than two years ago. Crews came across sinkholes and pipes they hadn’t accounted for.
Projected costs of $93 million soon ballooned to $129 million.
“Somehow people running these projects on behalf of taxpayers think they can keep changing it and there are no consequences,” Tory said. “We have to stop that.”
Deputy Mayor Denzil Minnan-Wong, who was appointed to the Waterfront Toronto board last week, will be investigating.
“How did they go over budget? How could they not know?” he asked rhetorically.
It’s not the first time Waterfront Toronto has come under criticism. In July, then mayor Rob Ford objected to the cost of specialized beach umbrellas at Sugar Beach and public washrooms at a Port Lands sports field.
When the project is done in June, in time for the Pan Am Games, Queens Quay will have separated streetcar lanes, off-street cycling and a granite promenade.
No one from Waterfront Toronto was available for comment on Friday, but the agency has set up a risk oversight body to oversee future projects and is promising greater transparency.
