Adam Prudhomme
Editor
One of Lennox and Addington and Hastings County’s most dangerous intersections will be converted into a roundabout as part of six infrastructure projects announced Friday by Hastings-Lennox Addington MPP Daryl Kramp.
Kramp was joined by Ontario Minister of Infrastructure Monte McNaughton in Tweed when he announced the six projects, which included $1.3 million to install a roundabout at Belleville Road and Deseronto Road. That intersection, which shares responsibility with both L&A County and Tyendinaga Township, has been a topic of conversation at the municipal, county and provincial level for quite some time. Often mistaken as a four-way stop rather than just a two-way, Joe Reid of Greater Napanee Emergency Services shared a post to social media that went viral last summer stating emergency crews respond to one to two accidents at that crossing per month. Greater Napanee mayor and L&A County council member Marg Isbester credited Reid with helping to get the ball rolling on the funding request.
Also included in Friday’s announcement was $1.1 million in funding for Newburgh’s Durham and Brock Street drainage improvements in Stone Mills, $1.6 million in funding to Boundary Bridge’s replacement in Tweed, $1.6 million to the rehabilitation of Weslemkoon Lake in Tudor and Cashel, $1.8 million towards Mayo Lake and Hartsmere Road’s rehabilitation and $1.7 million towards Hastings Highlands local Road 62’s revitalization. A start date for the projects were yet to be finalized.
“This infrastructure investment in our riding will help a lot of people as it replaces this important bridge, rehabilitates roads across our riding and fixes a long-delayed road drainage problem in Newburgh,” said Kramp, standing next to Boundary Bridge in Tweed. “It’s now up to the federal Government to pay their agreed-upon share so we can get people working.”
“These projects make up the fabric of our community,” added Kramp. “They’re the things that matter-the roads and bridges that get us home at night.”
Hastings-Lennox Addington MP Mike Bossio released a statement saying he applauded the announcement.
“Rural communities are my priority, and I am thrilled to see these projects moving forward for our municipalities,” said Bossio. “Many small municipalities like ours lack the financial and human resources they need to compete with larger communities. That’s why it was so important to me to fight for the $2 billion dollars in infrastructure funding specifically for these communities, which helps to level the playing field. I am proud to see that Infrastructure Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne and the Government of Canada took a leading role in engaging with small, rural communities, and acted on their advice and needs.”
“It is unfortunate that our municipalities had to wait this long to get the ball rolling,” added Bossio. “I know that MPP Daryl Kramp and I have both been advocating for the needs of our municipalities and I am happy to see that hard work paying off. Our federal government signed the agreement with Ontario 14 months ago, so this could have been done last year and these projects completed. The federal government has been ready. With the Ford Government’s late announcement today, it is possible that our hard-working municipalities will not be able to get shovels in the ground until this fall, losing another construction year.”
The six projects are the first 49 infrastructure projects planned in the Investing in Canadian Infrastructure Program (ICIP) across the province slated to take place over the next 10 years at a cost of $30 billion. Program funding combines federal, provincial and other partner contributions for local and regional infrastructure projects. The program will also include public transit, roads and bridges, and other social infrastructure such as culture and recreation projects.