Rethinking a downtown greening project: Sudbury presses pause on green walkway development.

• Author: Macdonald, Darren
• Position: DESIGN-BUILD

Sudbury city council is reconsidering the Elgin Greenway, a downtown greening project, after a report attached an $8.5-million pricetag to the venture.

The cost of the project soared from an original estimate of $3.7 million in 2013 to $8.5 million in May.

The city has already set aside $1 million for the Greenway, while the federal and provincial governments have been asked to contribute $1 million each. Another $300,000 is coming from the Greater Sudbury Development Corp. and the Downtown BIA.

The project would create a walking trail from downtown to the city's Bell Park via the Nelson Street bridge (a pedestrian railway overpass), linking with existing trails all the way to Laurentian University in the city's south end.

Coun. Bob Kirwan was flatly opposed to the plan, and didn't even want council to accept the report, let alone vote on proceeding any further with it.

"It's the wrong time," Kirwan said during a May 8 council meeting. "I don't think the public is ready to look at an $8.5-million expenditure when we're trying to keep taxes down.

"It may be a good project (but) we have other priorities we should be looking at."

But Coun. Deb Mcintosh, who admitted her eyes bulged when she saw the updated cost estimate, said staff should be directed to look at ways to get costs down, and focus on the Nelson Street bridge aspect of it, which will "unlock" access for people who want to walk the whole route.

"All of us had an 'oh my' moment when we saw the price tag come in," Mcintosh said. "But that (Nelson bridge) section of the Greenway could be a standalone piece that would bear fruit for us."

Coun. Joscelyne Landry-Altmann wondered why such a large contingency fund was set aside --almost 20...