Municipal officials are already hard at work, planning their latest application for government funds for road repairs.
Last Thursday, the province announced the next stream of funding through the Connecting Links Program, money Director of Engineering and Transportation Chris Thibert says could be put to good use in CK.
“We are going to be meeting together as a team in consultation with our Public Utilities Commission to make sure we’re prioritizing and selecting the correct segment of road for this round of funding,” Thibert says.
Only certain stretches of road qualify for the Connecting Links program, having to directly connect municipal and provincial roadways.
In Chatham-Kent, that limits the scope to Grand Avenue and St Clair Street in Chatham, and Dufferin Avenue and McNaughton Avenue in Wallaceburg.
For the 2021-22 stream, Thibert says Dufferin Avenue in Wallaceburg is the most likely contender for funding.
“Dufferin is one that we’ve applied for before,” Thibert says. “That is a road in critical need, so it’s a highly likely candidate for something that we’re going to apply for, but we’re hoping to have all that panned out in the next few weeks.”
The province has increased funding for bridge repairs and replacement, up from a maximum of $3-million to $5-million, but Thibert says there aren’t really any local bridge projects that qualify for the Connecting Links funding this time around.