Province announces road construction funding in Northern Ontario
Published: October 18, 2019
The Ontario government announced more than $5 million in funding for road reconstruction in Northern Ontario on October 17.
Of that sum, $3.9 million will be used in Kenora to fully reconstruct 1.7 kilometres of road on Railway Street and 10th Avenue South, and to fix potholes, replace sidewalks, and add on-road cycling lanes and new street lighting. A further $1.4 million will be directed to replace the asphalt surface and curbs, and repair sidewalks along Van Horne Avenue in Dryden.
Premier Doug Ford and Greg Rickford, Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines and Indigenous Affairs, made the announcement at Bowman Electric in Kenora.
"I know many Northerners are fed up about the delays in road repairs in the region," said Ford. "Fixing these roads is a matter of safety for Northern drivers, especially when it comes to winter driving."
"Keeping people and goods moving in Kenora-Rainy River and across Northern Ontario is a priority for this government," said Rickford. "Funding critical road reconstruction in Kenora and Dryden improves our local infrastructure and supports our plan to develop our economy in Northwestern Ontario."
The combined investments from the provincial and local governments in Kenora means approximately $8.7 million will be spent on road reconstruction in that city. Dryden will receive $3.1 million worth of combined funding for its projects.
Over the past two years, the province has approved approximately $5 million in funding for road infrastructure projects on designated connecting links in Dryden, Fort Frances and Rainy River. Connecting links are major municipal roads that connect two ends of a highway through a community or to a border.
Over the next 10 years, the government plans to invest as much as $144 billion in local infrastructure projects across the province, including in schools, hospitals, transit, roads and highways. As part of this investment, the province aims to support municipalities in building or repairing critical infrastructure through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP). The program includes approximately $250 million in federal funding over 10 years through the Rural and Northern stream to strengthen communities.
Ontario has already nominated 144 road, bridge, air and marine projects under the ICIP’s Rural and Northern stream. Fifty-four of these projects have received federal approval. The province is further nominating 46 public transit projects in Northern Ontario to the federal government for funding under the ICIP, and will commit $54.4 million to these projects.