Feature Article January 16, 2002
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Province turns down road funding requestby Jeff GreenCentral Frontenac Councils application to the Ontario Ostar fund for money to complete the reconstruction program on Road 38 has been turned down. Central Frontenac Mayor Bill MacDonald said he was disappointed that our proposal was rejected. I think that since Walkerton, proposals that have to do with improving water quality have taken precedence over other projects. Road projects seem to be low down on the provinces list of priorities right now.
Councillor Marsden Kirk, upon hearing the news, said, I cant say Im surprised. They said from the beginning that Ostar wasnt really about roads. I guess what we have to do is seek other sources of funding.
When the responsibility for maintaining Roads 38 and 509 was downloaded to the municipality, the province included a grant to cover reconstruction. Unfortunately the grant was not large enough to complete all the necessary repairs, and most of it was used up fixing part of Road 38 in 2001, leaving the area from just south of Parham to the edge of Sharbot Lake in need of repaving.
Marsden Kirk says, It would cost up to $3 million complete the reconstruction, and with an annual road budget of $1 million per year, we clearly cannot do any more work on Road 38 this year.
Bill MacDonald concurred, saying, I have already been on the phone to the provincial people and we will have to reapply next year.
