Green light for paving projects
Funding announced for five roads in Sydney and Glace Bay
Motorists should enjoy a smoother ride along five major roads in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality once sections of them are repaved.
Federal Transport Minister Lisa Raitt, provincial Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Geoff MacLellan and Cape Breton Regional Municipality Mayor Cecil Clarke were in Sydney Thursday morning to announce $ 2.4 million in funding for the work — $ 800,000 from each level of government.
With the funding, sections of Esplanade, Kings Road and Sydney Port Access Road in Sydney will be resurfaced, as will sections of South Street and Commercial Street in Glace Bay.
Clarke said the five roads are owned and managed by the CBRM and were identified as priorities by council through the establishment of a “worst- first” list.
“We actually went to engineering rather than politics to get the priorities done, so every road has been prioritized by the engineering (department), our consultants and our staff, and council voted,” he said. “So it took a lot of will by council to depoliticize that process.”
The CBRM will be overseeing the roadwork and Clarke said the plan is to get it underway quickly.
The first step will be to issue tenders for the work as soon as possible.
“Our officials will get to work right away. If we can get it into this construction season, that’s my hope,” he said.
Clarke described the project as one step in a long line of work that needs to be done as the CBRM plays catch- up in addressing its infrastructure needs.
MacLellan said the province is pleased to be partnering with the two other levels of government on a project that will improve key access roads in the CBRM.
“Today our $ 800,000 will certainly help Sydney, it’ll help Glace Bay and all of industrial Cape Breton,” he said. “It’s good news and it’s good investment and it’s needed investment.”
Raitt said the roadwork project falls under the federal government’s Building Canada fund, designed to help address provincial and municipal infrastructure needs. She said good roads make communities more livable.
“This is a really important investment. It’s going to extend the road life of these five areas for 12 years and that’s really important for people to get around,” she said.
The road sections set to be resurfaced are the Esplanade from Dorchester Street to Byng Avenue, Kings Road from Byng Avenue to Weidner Drive, SPAR from Kevin Quinlan Avenue to Ferry Street, Commercial Street from Main Street to Catherine Street, and South Street from MacAulay Avenue to the end.