Jeff Green | Feb 05, 2020


Back in September of 2019, Central Frontenac Township received confirmation that under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP), the Province of Ontario will provide $1.06 million and the federal government another $1.9 million, towards a $3.2 million project to reconstruct Elizabeth Street in Sharbot Lake.

On October 9th, the newly hired township public works manager, Tyson Myers, told Council that he had already begun work on the project, and reported that in addition to Elizabeth Street, work will be done on two adjacent streets, Robert and Garrett.

He also said that the business community and the public at large will be consulted in the run up to the project. At the time, construction was slated for the summer of 2020.

Since then, Myers has been working to get the plans for the project ready. Jewell Engineering has been working with the township on what is now being called the Sharbot Lake Village Reconstruction project, and while the project is still in the planning stages, he said that the schedule is going to start moving along quite quickly in the coming weeks.

“Jewell Engineering is working hard to complete the plan and profile drawings for the township’s review. Residents may have seen surveyors on the streets and in their yards collecting data and property boundaries to provide to the engineering team.  I am working with the home and business owners, the economic development committee, the Sharbot Lake business group, the accessibility committee and many others to gather as much local input that I can, to bring forth to the engineers to try to incorporate in the initial design,” Myers wrote, as part of an email interview this week.

He said that he expects to have a set of “plans and profile drawings that are detailed enough to show the public” within the next couple of weeks.

In addition to new asphalt, the “reconstruction to the village will provide upgraded underground infrastructure, additional areas of curb and sidewalk, with a focus on the downtown core.”

The infrastructure project will also provide an opportunity for a downtown revitalisation project that people from Frontenac County and OMAFRA (Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs) have been working on and have already presented to the Central Frontenac economic development committee.

“The program would capture market information and opportunities for economic development that relate to the work being done on Elizabeth Street,” he said.

Updates will be brought to Council and posted on the township website in short order and Myers said that input from an upcoming public information session will be incorporated into the final plans.

At this time, the expectation is that construction will get underway in the late summer, which is at least partial relief for the local business community, which is dependent on summer tourist traffic.

“This is a very exciting time for Central Frontenac residents as I think our investment in the core of the community will have a ripple effect on the rest of the township that will bring growth and opportunity,” he wrote.

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