Judge orders LRT contractor to release 'holdback' payments to local company

An OC Transpo LRT train is seen in a file photo. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

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An Ottawa judge has ordered the release of “holdback” payments to a local utility and electrical contractor following a legal dispute over work completed on the LRT’s Trillium Line extension in 2023.

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AtkinsRealis Construction, which previously operated as SNC-Lavalin, was ordered to release holdback payments to Bradley-Kelly Construction Ltd. after Superior Court Justice Karen Perron issued a summary judgment that sided with the subcontractor.

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The City of Ottawa entered into a “design, build, finance and maintain” agreement for the Trillium Line extension in March 2019 with TransitNext, a subsidiary of AtkinsRealis, to act as the general contractor.

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The project included the rehabilitation, maintenance and upgrading of the existing Line 2 infrastructure, including the track and stations extending from Bayview to Greenboro, and expanding the north-south line with 11.5 kilometres of new track from Greenboro Station to Limebank Station.

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AtkinsRealis hired subcontractor GIP Construction Ontario East Ltd., which had previously operated as Aecon, in December 2021 to supply “all management, coordination, supervision, labour, materials, equipment and the execution of all necessary work” for the reconstruction of Limebank Road, Earl Armstrong Road and Bowesville Road, along with park-and-rides, paving and emergency access roads, according to the judge’s summary of the facts.

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The contracts also included the addition of a park-and-ride at Earl Armstrong and Bowesville Road, and the realignment of both roads.

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Bradley-Kelly was sub-subcontracted to provide roadway lighting and traffic light infrastructure for the Earl Armstrong road widening. The company was also hired to complete work at the New Walkley Yard location.

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A dispute arose between AtkinsRealis and GIP in the fall of 2023, according to the summary of facts. Bradley-Kelly filed two liens in February 2024 and commenced two legal actions related to work completed at Earl Armstrong Road and New Walkley Yard.

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The lien on New Walkley Yard was settled, with AtkinsRealis paying $615,000 of the holdback funds to Bradley-Kelly.

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A remaining $703,000 was held back by AtkinsRealis over the Earl Armstrong project.

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AtkinsRealis argued that Bradley-Kelly’s work at the two sites constituted work on two separate “improvements,” according to the summary.

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Bradley-Kelly completed work at the Earl Armstrong site on Dec. 27, 2023, and completed the Walkley subcontract on Jan. 25, 2024.

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AtkinsRealis argued the Earl Armstrong lien was not preserved within the statutory 45-day period and claimed it had expired on Feb. 13, 2024.