Ontario Construction News staff writer
The City of Barrie is getting almost $1.4 million from the Ontario Government for a Bayfield Street rehabilitation Bayfield Street rehabilitation project.
In total, the Ontario government recently announced $30 million in funding to build safer and more reliable transportation systems to help keep goods moving and better connect municipalities throughout the province.
Doug Downey, MPP for Barrie-Springwater-OroMedonte and MPP Andrea Khanjin for Barrie-Innisfil, announced this week that the province is giving Barrie $1.4 for the resurfacing of Bayfield Street from Cundles Road to Livingstone Street.
“This project allows us to address the needs of people in our community in a very direct way,” said Doug Downey, MPP for Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte.
“By investing in Barrie. we can ensure local vital infrastructure is built and maintained, helping to keep people safe, keep goods moving, and driving more economic growth during these uncertain times.”
Eligible costs include the design, construction, renewal, rehabilitation and replacement of municipal roads and bridges that run through communities and connect to provincial highways.
“The Connecting Links program is part of our government’s focus on investing in infrastructure to keep our economy moving,” said MPP Khanjin of Barrie-Innisfil. “Improving our roads is key to reducing the gridlock that keeps Ontarians from getting to where they want quickly and safely.”
The 2020-2021 provincial Connecting Links program will fund projects in 24 municipalities across the province to build, repair or replace municipal roads and bridges that connect two ends of a provincial highway through a community or to a border crossing.
The province provided $30 million in 2019-20 to support Connecting Links projects across Ontario. The funding covers up to 90 per cent of eligible project costs, to a maximum of $3 million.
Funding will be used for: three bridge repair projects, 10 resurfacing projects, and four design projects to prepare further infrastructure investments. Connecting Links projects are reviewed based on technical need and safety considerations, such as the condition of the connecting link bridge and road, need for repair in the near term, and cost effectiveness.
Connecting Links is delivered through the Ministry of Transportation. The funding covers up to 90 per cent of eligible project costs, to a maximum of $3 million. Eligible costs include the design, construction, renewal, rehabilitation and replacement of connecting links.
In Ontario, there are a total of 352 kilometres of connecting links, with 70 bridges in 77 municipalities.