Fingers crossed

County applies for funding to begin work on County Road 49

County Road 49 was once again near the top of the list in CAA’s 2024 list of worst roads—coming in at number four. It also ranks as the worst road in Ontario’s eastern region.

But Council has its fingers crossed that the road might soon be off CAA’s radar.

The municipality has applied for a provincial funding opportunity under the Housing- Enabling Core Services Fund, which, if approved, would provide provincial funding up to a maximum of $20 million towards a project that will enable new housing development— in this case, County Road 49.

The Housing-Enabling Core Servicing Stream is a $400 million provincial fund available to municipalities to fund the construction, maintenance or repair of road and bridge infrastructure that enable new housing opportunities.

According to the application, funding will enable over 2,000 housing units on the east side of Picton over the next 10 to 15 years. County Road 49 also provides a reliable method of transportation for the municipality’s tourism, hospitality and employment sectors.

The municipality has already allocated $7.8 million towards the Picton Main Street portion of County Road 49 in the 2024 Capital Budget. The total cost of the rehabilitation is estimated at $52,338,808 which includes a 25 per cent contingency.

CAO Marcia Wallace noted that staff worked together to come up with a unique solution to the application.

“We managed to find a way for this road to fit quite nicely with the requirements for the latest call for funding,” said Wallace. “This does not finish the project, even if we got this money, and with the municipal portion we had in the budget from last year, we are still short a considerable amount, but we feel we would be in a better position to lobby for federal money if we have provincial and municipal contributions,” she added.

Wallace also said that neither her nor the treasurer would recommend funding the road by debt, given the County’s current debt situation.

“While the motion says conditional on the $20 million, I think, if we are coming up short with no federal funding prospects, we would make it conditional on that as well.”

Councillor Chris Braney, a member of the County Road 49 Working Group, commended staff and the group.

“This option is out of the box, and I do believe we have a good chance of being successful,” he said.

“It shows how committed we are to this. We are not giving up on this. Not taking no for an answer. We are going to move forward and get some results. One way or another, it’s going to happen.”

Councillor Bill Roberts noted that newly elected MPP Tyler Allsopp has been articulate that he’s willing to get right in there and fight for 49, and wondered how Council could address this.

“I would strongly encourage anyone who signed those petitions to write to their new MPP and remind him that they still feel strongly about that,” said Wallace. “We certainly are hearing the right things from the MPP.”

Wallace also said that local development community has a big stake in the game and is hoping they will be vocal.

“That will be the main route for those residents to move in and out of the County,” she said.

Councillor John Hirsch asked about the process.

“If this goes into the 2025 budget as a capital project, assuming we get the grant, is that committing us to the work?” he asked.

CAO Wallace noted that if the County was successful, Council would still have to enter into a transfer payment agreement and approve a bylaw. “If we do not feel confident there is federal money on the horizon, we would not recommend bringing that forward.”

CAO Wallace expects applications be reviewed this fall with announcements of funding in early December.