Premier Kathleen Wynne was in Barrie this morning to announce funding for the rehabilitation of a one-kilometre stretch of Bayfield Street.
The City of Barrie will receive $675,000 from the Province to refurbish Bayfield Street from Livingstone Street to the city limits.
Connecting Links is a province-wide program that commits $20 million to several municipalities during 2016/17.
Wynne and Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca made the funding announcement in Barrie.
They called the announcement "a massive investment" that will allow communities to expand and thrive.
“We have to invest in infrastructure," Wynne said. "Much of it was built when I was born - the post war era and through the sixties.
"That infrastructure is aging and it needs to be built up." Municipal roads and bridges are the focus.
Funding for the Connecting Links program will increase to $25 million in 2017–18 and then $30 million in 2018–19.
The province is making the largest investment in public infrastructure in Ontario history - approximately $160 billion over 12 years for projects such as roads, bridges, transit systems, schools and hospitals.
It is estimated that the investment will support110,000 jobs every year across Ontario, the province says.
Last year the province announced support for more than 325 projects that will keep people and goods moving, connect communities and improve quality of life.
There are approximately 350 kilometres of roads and 70 bridges identified as connecting links in 77 Ontario municipalities.
Applications for funding were received in early 2016. Successful applicants including Barrie will receive funding starting this spring.
Funding will provide up to 90 percent of project costs, to a maximum of $3 million.
Last month's federal budget included $120 billion for new roads, bridges, buildings, pipes, etc. in Canadian communities during the next decade - or about twice the commitment of the previous Conservative government.
