14 Ontario municipalities receive Connecting Links funding

LAMBTON SHORES, ONT.—The Ontario government is allocating $30 million to 14 municipalities to repair roads and bridges through the Connecting Links Program.

The municipalities benefiting from the funding are Dryden, Haldimand County, Innisfil, Kapuskasing, Lambton Shores, Prince Edward County, Renfrew, Saugeen Shores, Smiths Falls, Timmins, Wellington North, West Grey, West Nipissing and West Perth, stated a recent release.

Eligible costs include the design, construction, renewal, rehabilitation and replacement of municipal roads and bridges that connect two ends of a provincial highway through a community or to a border crossing.

Through the Connecting Links Program, funding will be provided to eligible municipalities of up to 90 per cent of eligible project costs, up to a maximum of $3 million for road projects. In response to municipal feedback, starting in 2021-22, the province is permanently raising the maximum amount of available funding for bridge projects from $3 million to $5 million to reflect the higher costs of maintaining and repairing bridges compared to roads, the release explained.

“Connecting Links are roads that are important to both local residents and the provincial transportation network as a whole,” said Bill Weber, mayor of Lambton Shores, in a statement. “It’s important to have provincial funding that helps ensure these key roads and bridges are kept in good repair.”