Councillors in Prince Edward County are well aware the road needs in the municipality well exceed what can be afforded but they are moving forward with a plan that will begin to address some of those issues.
Councillors approved the 2020 road surface maintenance program which will see $4.3 million worth of work on their roads this year.
In 2019, a road needs assessment was undertaken and roads were evaluated in one kilometre stretches.
Based on staff road evaluations in 2019, the replacement costs to improve road conditions from “poor” and “fair” to “good” are estimated to be over $163 million.
Chief Administrative Officer Marcia Wallace told council the cost to fix all the roads is unrealistic so they are using a smart, evidence-based approach to figure out how to best fund road repairs this year.
Staff are proposing to spend $100,000 on crack sealing, $1.2 million of surface treatment programs and $3 million on generic roadwork for a total of $4.3 million.
Mayor Steve Ferguson was pleased with the report stating it puts forward a list that addresses what road, when, how much of it and how long it will take; which is a terrific model for years ahead.
Councillor Jamie Forrester was happy with the report but noted it missed a significant issue in his mind.
He was concerned the report lacked the safety issue and what that means not only for motorists, but cyclists.
Forrester was specifically referring to County Road 18 and says it has been an issue for years and when he is told something is a safety issue it is now his responsibility to investigate it.
Director of Development Services Peter Moyer acknowledged that factoring in safety issues is something they are missing in their data and he is hoping a year from now staff will have the ability to incorporate that into their data.
Pat Heffernan, Acting Director of Operations, told those around the horseshoe they are going to do the best they can this year and address the roads, but noted staff won’t be able to get to all of the ‘red’ sections in the report.
He said if some roads are so severe they can’t maintain them, they will make them gravel until it can be addressed on a more long-term level.
Councillor Brad Nieman said the report shows they can start to make headway on repairing the roads in the county.
