CHRIS LOWREY
CALUMET ISLAND July 5, 2018
The provincial government has committed an additional $1,373,836 in road maintenance funding for the Pontiac.
The $1.3 million comes in addition to the $3.5 million already earmarked for the region’s infrastructure.
The announcement was made by Pontiac MNA and Quebec Minister of Transport, Sustainable Mobility and Transport Electrification André Fortin at a municipal garage on Calumet Island on July 5.
Of the 18 municipalities in the Pontiac, 14 will be receiving a portion of the funding to maintain their level one and two local roads.
The total amount of funding for the region – $4,946,594 – represents a 38 per cent increase to the funding from 2017. The additional $1.3 million represents five per cent of the provinces additional funding budget.
The additional funds are part of a funding program that allows municipalities to have more of a say in which roads need to be targeted for repairs.
Fortin said the funding is essential for regions like the Pontiac because of its large geographic area. Combine this with the fact that there is a limited revenue stream from taxpayers, and it becomes difficult for municipalities to keep up with roadwork.
“Municipalities shoulder a lot of the burden to maintain roads,” Fortin said. “[They] just don’t have the means to do it.”
To make matters worse, Fortin said the application process to get access to these funds was unnecessarily complicated. Municipalities had to carefully follow an eight-step application process and if there were any mistakes, they had to start from scratch.
Fortin said the application process has been whittled down to just two steps, which should make it easier for municipalities to get their hands on much-needed infrastructure money.
In 1992, the Ryan reform downloaded many infrastructure costs to municipalities from the province.
Since then, municipalities have struggled for years to keep up with deteriorating roadways.
Several mayors were in attendance for the meeting as well as Warden Jane Toller.
She said that improved roadways will help the Pontiac’s tourism industry because freshly-paved roads can make a good first impression on those coming to the area.
