New cash from the province for roadwork in Barrie and traffic signal improvements in Innisfil came as a 'pleasant surprise' to some local officials.
Steven Del Duca, Ontario’s minister of Transportation, announced funding for 19 Connecting Links projects across the province Thursday at the Civic Centre in Sault Ste. Marie.
Among the funding was $45,800 for the Highway 26 project involving the rehabilitation of Bayfield Street from Coulter St. to Cundles St. in Barrie.
"We submitted the application in 2016. It is for the design of the rehabilitation of Bayfield from Cundles to Coulter. Our capital plan has the construction to follow in 2018," said Kelly Oakley, Barrie's Manager of Corporate Asset Management.
"This is great news. Any funding that we can get from other levels of government to allow us to fix more roads and infrastructure is always welcome!"
Innisfil is receiving $318,584 for Highway 89 traffic signal Improvements at the intersection of Church Street, Queen Street and King Street in Cookstown.
"The first we saw of it was the press release," said Carolina Cautillo, Project Manager, Roads, Traffic and Transportation for Innisfil.
"We've applied for Connecting Links funding in the past and we've never actually received it before so it was definitely a pleasant surprise."
Cautillo says the funding will go towards modernizing traffic signals at what is the busiest intersection within the Town of Innisfil's jurisdiction.
"We're hoping to update the light fixtures, push buttons and other pedestrian indicators in general. That particular location is one of the ones that has a high maintenance demand for us."
Innisfil had asked for just slightly more cash at $360,000 in its funding application.
"It's really close. We're really pleased," said Cautillo of Thursday's announcement.
Del Duca said making the announcement in Sault Ste. Marie had nothing to do with an impending byelection for the Sault Ste. Marie riding.
In February Del Duca announced an increase in funding of the Connecting Links program from $20 million in 2016-17, which was up from $15 million announced in 2015.
For 2017-18, the province is making available $25 million in funding to the 77 municipalities in Ontario which have ‘connecting links,’ municipal roadways which connect to provincial highways and border crossings.
“So (this) is a very clear indication that we have heard loud and clear from those eligible communities that we need to provide additional support,” Del Duca said.
