Governments funding gets $9 million road work under way

Politicians from all three levels met Wednesday to announce more than $6 million in funding from the federal and provincial governments combined with $3.12 million from the County to reconstruct the roadway between Rednersville (Cty Road 23) to Rossmore (Hwy 62).

The $9,361,920 construction project on 5.8kms of County Road 3, known as Rednersville Road, is set to begin in April, 2016. The work includes improvements to culverts and ditches and road widening to accommodate buses and cycling lanes.

Daryl Kramp, Prince Edward-Hastings MP, said the federal government’s contribution comes from the New Building Canada Plan Small Communities Fund and is part of a $1 billion program across the nation.

“I’ve been working on this since I was first elected in 2004 because both residents and the municipality have been telling us it needs to be done. It won’t only benefit the people who live here and those who commute on the road, but it will also be a big help for tourists and cyclists. There  have been a number of temporary fixes over the years but it needs to be fixed properly.”

Mayor Robert Quaiff agreed it hasn’t been easy to get this project under way and noted the funding assistance will help free up municipal money for other projects.

“This originally needed to budgeted over several years time but now what this does is free up about $1.5 million of additional funding that we can put into other prioritized road construction challenges in Prince Edward County,” Quaiff said. “We’ve completed our asset management plan and that shows our infrastructure of our roads requires $38 million a year for the next 10 years – so this $6 million from both the federal and provincial governments is a blessing for us and provides us with a great road.”

Prince Edward Hastings MPP Todd Smith noted he was a member of the media when the road condition started to spiral into an unacceptable state.

“I recall reporting on washed-out culverts, sink holes and disrepair. When I was elected in 2011, this was a priority from Mayor Peter Mertens at the time and it’s remained the number one infrastructure priority,” he said. “Rednersville Road is an important artery and dates all the way back to the late 1700s when the Redner family moved into what we now know as Rednersville. It’s interesting as you see all the crossroads that join up with Rednersville Road, the names there like Weese, Bryant and so on, and it really is a bit of highway of our history in Prince Edward County. It used to be a main crossing before Highway 401 and Highway 2 were built.”

Construction for the remainder of the road, to Carrying Place, will be further discussed upon completion of this project.