Stephen Vance, Staff
The Municipality of Meaford is hoping to receive a share of the most recent round of Ontario’s Connecting Links program to resurface a 3.45 kilometre stretch of Sykes Street between Ford Avenue and the MTO operations yard east of St. Vincent Street.
In November the province announced $15 million in funding made available to the 77 municipalities in Ontario that have connecting links in their communities.
“This program will help municipalities pay the construction and repair costs for connecting links, which are municipal roads that connect communities to provincial highways and border crossings. Across the province, there are 352 kilometres of connecting links, including 70 bridges, in 77 municipalities,” Meaford Treasurer Darcy Chapman told council in his report to council in late January.
Chapman noted that the MTO will provide connecting links funding “for a range of capital projects such as bridge replacement, pavement rehabilitation, storm sewer construction and intersection improvements. The MTO will not provide connecting links funding for the replacement or rehabilitation of water or waste-water infrastructure. Projects will be funded up to 90 percent to a maximum of $3 million of eligible project costs.”
The estimated cost for the paving project is $191,000, and should Meaford succeed with its funding request, the provincial government would cover up to $171,900, leaving Meaford to pay its portion of slightly more than $19,000.
The Connecting Links program is part of an overall strategy to tackle Ontario’s growing infrastructure deficit.
“This funding is part of the largest infrastructure investment in Ontario’s history — more than $130 billion over 10 years, which is making 110,000 jobs possible every year across Ontario, with projects such as roads, bridges, transit systems, schools and hospitals,” said the province of the program. Funding for the new Connecting Links program is expected to begin in the spring of 2016.
“Ontario’s population is expected to grow by approximately 40 per cent by 2041, placing additional importance on having modern infrastructure to support a growing population,” said the province. “Research shows that every $100 million of public infrastructure investment in Ontario boosts GDP by $114 million, particularly in construction and manufacturing sectors.”
