The City of North Bay is putting itself in a financial position to improve one of its busiest roadways.
North Bay City Council will act on a recommendation during Tuesday's regular meeting to confirm its support for the City of North Bay’s application to the provincial Ministry of Transportation’s Connecting Links Program. It is a request for funding to support the rehabilitation and resurfacing of approximately 1.3 kilometres of Trout Lake Road from Highway 11/17 to Giroux Street.
The proposed project would also include the implementation of active transportation facilities, such as multi-use paths, bike lanes or a combination of the two, and the widening of the Laurentian Avenue traffic-controlled intersection.
"If funding is approved, it would offset future capital costs that will need to be borne and budgeted by the City in their entirety at some point in the future," according to the associated staff report.
The MTO program provides 90 percent of eligible project costs to a maximum of $3 million to municipalities to undertake road and bridge projects on the designated connecting link highways. Trout Lake Road from Highway 11/17 to Lees Road is the only eligible roadway in the City of North Bay. The MTO requires a resolution from city council to complete the application to the Connecting Links Program.
The City of North Bay is requesting the maximum amount of $3 million from the MTO for the estimated $3.66-million project with the municipal contribution pegged at approximately $660,000 to cover a combination of ineligible costs and 10 per cent of the eligible costs as required by the grant. These funds have lines in the 2024 and 2025 budgets in preparation for an approved application. Should the application be declined, there is no obligation for the project to proceed. If the council decides not to move forward with the proposed project, the application may be withdrawn.
See related: Work scheduled to begin this spring on $3.75M Trout Lake Road reconstruction project
Another Connecting Links project covering a 1.6-kilometre section of Trout Lake Road — from just west of Mountainview Drive to Lees Road — saw months of reconstruction and rehabilitation in 2022.
North Bay City Council will meet on Tuesday, Nov. 28 at 6:30 p.m. for committee discussions, to be followed by its regular meeting.