Province to take second look at funding Black Road widening

Lobbying by the mayor and senior city staff regarding the eligibility of certain Connecting Links projects for provincial funding has resulted in a change of heart by the Ministry of Transportation (MTO), but the city cannot apply for widening of Black Road until next year.

In the meantime, the MTO has approved more than $2.3 million in funding for two resurfacing projects on Second Line, which are expected to be completed this year.

Steven Del Duca, Ontario’s minister of Transportation, announced funding for 19 projects across the province today at the Civic Centre in Sault Ste. Marie.

Del Duca said making the announcement in Sault Ste. Marie had nothing to do with an impending byelection for the Sault Ste. Marie riding.

Instead, Del Duca cited Sault Ste. Marie as having the most kilometres of connecting links as one of the reasons he travelled to the Sault to make the announcement.

“I felt it was important to come back here and deliver this good news to the community and I look forward to continuing to work with Sault Ste. Marie,” said Del Duca.

He said 77 municipalities in Ontario are eligible to apply for funding under the Connecting Links program.

When in the city in February for a gas tax funding announcement, Del Duca met with Mayor Christian Provenzano and senior city staff. Provenzano said the conversation turned to the widening of Black Road — a project the MTO decided was ineligible for Connecting Links funding.

“I had the city’s engineer explain to the minister why we saw (the widening of Black Road) as a valid project and why it should be approved and why we hoped we could apply for it in the future and have it approved,” said Provenzano immediately after today’s announcement.

Del Duca said widening projects will now be considered for Connecting Links funding, but the city’s next opportunity to apply won’t be until 2018.

Al Horsman, chief administrative officer for the city of Sault Ste. Marie, said just because widening projects are now eligible for funding doesn’t mean the Black Road project will be approved.

Horsman said the city was led to believe widening projects were eligible when they made the Black Road application in January of 2016.

“But there was some nuances in the language of the criteria. The province (MTO) had determined from priorities it wasn’t eligible because they had other priorities,” said Horsman.

Del Duca said he thinks the project guidelines were clear.

“Going forward, I think there’s an expectation this city will apply (for the Black Road widening project) and the ministry will review the application when we receive it,” said Del Duca.

The Second Line projects are expected to go out to tender in May, with construction scheduled between July and October, says city engineering staff.

The project includes resurfacing of Second Line between Carmen's Way and North Street, and between Great Northern Road and Old Garden River Road.

The project will also include a new sidewalk on Second Line between Great Northern Road and Old Garden River Road.

For 2017-18, the province is making available $25 million in funding to the 77 municipalities in Ontario which have ‘connecting links,’ municipal roadways which connect to provincial highways and border crossings.

Next year, the funding is planned to increase to $30 million.    

The MTO cancelled the Connecting Links program in 2013, but reintroduced it in spring 2015 for projects beginning in the 2016 construction season.

Because the city only applied for the Black Road project and it was deemed ineligible, no Connecting Links money flowed to the Sault in 2016.

The announcement of the reintroduction of the program was made in Sault Ste. Marie by Del Duca, in part because Sault Ste. Marie has the largest share of connecting links in the province at 24.5 kilometres.