More construction work proposed on Second Line

City councillors are expected to approve resurfacing of Second Line West between Korah Road and Allen’s Side Road during the 2022 construction season.

Carl Rumiel, the city's manager of design and transportation engineering, will ask City Council next week to allocate $400,000 in funding announced Dec. 7 under the province's Northern Ontario Resource Development Support (NORDS) fund to the project.

"After a thorough review of the guidelines, the engineering division recommends that the resurfacing of Second Line between Korah Road and Allen’s Side Road be identified as the city’s candidate project," Rumiel says in a report prepared for Monday's meeting of City Council.

"This project fits the criteria well as it is the main truck route utilized by Arauco Wood Products directly relating to the forestry industry," Rumiel says.

"This portion of Second Line is not designated as a provincial connecting link. This project was also identified as the city’s next arterial resurfacing priority in the 2022 Capital Transportation Program."

"NORDS is a new funding program to assist municipalities in Northern Ontario by helping to invest in local infrastructure, in recognition of the impacts that resource development has on municipal infrastructure," Rumiel says.

“Resource development impacts are generally associated with impacts resulting from primary natural resource extraction and processing activities (e.g. forestry,mining, aggregates). Criteria may also include related activities that are associated with or support those natural resource activities such as value-added processing, supply and services, repair and manufacturing, etc.”

Rumeil says the $400,000 NORDS funding will allow other resurfacing projects to be done in the future as funds required for the resurfacing of Second Line will be available for other resurfacing priorities.

Monday's City Council meeting will be livestreamed on SooToday starting at 4:30 p.m.