Frustrated by repeated delays and budget overruns, the City of Victoria is threatening to cut off payments to the contractor responsible for building the new Johnson Street Bridge.

Council said it is finally digging in its heels after the project manager said the bridge, which was originally estimated to cost around $63-million, would likely end up surpassing $100-million.

“We’ve been asked ‘more time more money, more time more money.’ We’re saying no more time and no more money until we fix the schedule on this project,” said Mayor Lisa Helps.

Project manager Jonathan Huggett told council he’s demanding the contractor, PCL Constructors, get things back on track – and have it done earlier than 2018, as is currently projected.

“We’ve told them that we will not make any more progress payments until we have a revised schedule, and they get that,” Huggett said.

The delays and additional costs have been blamed on problems with steel fabrication in China.

Work on the beams has had to be restarted due to poor quality, but the city says the issues are out of its control.

“We signed a contract that signed over control for who the manufacturer would be to PCL. PCL chose the contractor, and that’s the contractor that is currently working on the bridge,” Helps said.

But when CTV News reporter Rob Buffam attempted to speak with PCL Constructors to get its side of the story, he was told the company needed the city’s approval first. The city refused.

A company representative said its contract with the city prevents it from commenting without Victoria’s go-ahead.

While the city tries to turn the project around, long-time critic Ross Crockford said it’s not too late to start over – and build something simpler.

“If they don’t have 100 per cent confidence, then they should consider the possibility of doing something different, of simplifying the design somehow,” said Crockford.

The city said it is bringing the project’s chief engineer to Victoria from New York to explain to council and the public why steel fabrication has faltered.

With a report from CTV Vancouver Island's Robert Buffam