Stoney Creek missing out on cash to fix roads: Conley

Stoney Creek is being left behind when it comes to road construction, says the local councillor.

Coun. Doug Conley, who represents Ward 9, says after eight years wards 9 and 10 have received “absolutely nothing” in funding to improve residential roads.

“I don’t understand the logic,” said Conley, who was elected in 2014. “There is something wrong with that. I can’t believe wards 9 and 10 are so exceptional we don’t need any roads done.”

He says other areas of the city, most notably on the Mountain, have received funding for critical road work through their area-rating funds and from the general infrastructure program.

He said there is a $55-million infrastructure fund the city has used to improve Hamilton’s aging and crumbling road network.

But Conley says Stoney Creek has been sitting on the sidelines waiting for the money to fix up a few residential roads that have been neglected for up to a decade.

“We have $55 million and I get no roads (done) for that,” he said. “My taxpayers are paying into that. We need to be fair. If I had an area-rating fund, I would have had all the roads done.”

Gary Moore, director of engineering, said his staff has examined all of the city’s neighbourhoods to determine if residential roads need to be improved.

He said prior to the city investing more than $8 million to improve its roads, the only way a road was upgraded was when a sewer or water main project was done.

“Those roads don’t meet the criteria,” Moore said.

Conley dismissed the explanation. He said in the city’s 10-year capital road plan, there is not a single Ward 9 road identified for improvement.

“Not one (of wards 9 or 10 roads) meets the criteria?”

Mountain Coun. Tom Jackson said he has used the bulk of his area-rating fund to improve his ward 6 infrastructure, including for roads and sidewalks.

But in the lower city, including Stoney Creek, those councillors don’t have an area-rating fund to tap into for local projects and have to scramble to get funding for their residential roads.

Ward 3 Coun. Matthew Green said the roads in Ward 6 are “paved with gold.”

The best way to address the discrepancies, said Green, is to eliminate the area-rating policy or tax those suburban residents appropriately so they receive the same services as other parts of the city.

Hamilton councillors have been reluctant to debate the merits of area rating since it was created by the Ontario government in 2000 to make amalgamation palatable for suburban residents to merge with the former City of Hamilton.

Conley said he understood the area rating program but said failing roads in his ward “are not being taken seriously.”

“The wards with area rating are still getting the bulk of the (funding),” he said. “I don’t see the fairness of it.”