A windfall of cash from the provincial government will mean resurfacing of Highway 26 from Cranberry Trail West to Osler Bluff Road can move ahead in a speedy manner.
This week, the Town of Collingwood received word that their request for funding under the province’s Connecting Links program was approved, and the province will be providing $2.1 million toward the $2.3-million project.
“We are absolutely thrilled that the province is contributing to the Connecting Link portion,” Chief Administrative Officer Sonya Skinner told CollingwoodToday on Tuesday. “We’re looking forward to the design and how that highway design can best serve the community.”
The grant application was first brought before council in October. At that time, total costs for the project were estimated at $1.7 million.
According to Skinner, the overall project costs and corresponding cost-sharing split was boosted when the province agreed to also pay for drainage improvements at the Cranberry Trail intersection as part of the overall project.
“Roads and bridges are vital links that connect people to jobs, housing and make it easier for people to get where they need to go,” said Brian Saunderson, MPP for Simcoe-Grey, in a news release. “Our government is providing the funding municipalities need to ensure their transportation infrastructure is safe and reliable for generations to come."
The Connecting Links funding helps municipalities pay for the construction and repair costs for municipal roads and bridges that connect two ends of a provincial highway through a community or to a border crossing. The ministry of transportation will provide funding up to 90 per cent, to a maximum of $3 million per road project, and up to $5 million per bridge project, of eligible capital costs for approved projects.
For the Highway 26 project, the province’s $2.1 million will be combined with $236,000 committed by the town, which was approved through the 2023 budget process.
According to the town’s report on the project, this section of Highway 26 is classified as a semi-urban arterial road and was chosen due to its priority status within the town’s asset management plan. The current pavement condition index for this section of road is “poor” according to the levels of service within the plan.
The project will include a cold-in-place base plus a hot-mix asphalt resurface, along with portions of roadside drainage improvements.
When originally brought before council late last year, Skinner said preliminary design of the project occurs, there will be further opportunity for public and council consultation at that time.
Construction is expected to begin in 2024.
