Duane Hicks
One project in the 2011 budget that may have to be put on hold is upgrades to the Portage Avenue storm sewer pumping station given the town still is waiting for the go-ahead from CN.
“I have written numerous letters to the powers that be at CN,” said Fort Frances CAO Mark McCaig.
“We have been waiting a couple years for them to look at some sets of drawings and give us the OK to go through with this project,” he noted.
“The underpass project is not truly done until this is done.”
McCaig added the town has spoken to residents who live at adjoining properties and have an agreement with them to do some work on their property.
“Year after year, we look kind of foolish when it doesn’t happen,” he remarked.
McCaig said Operations and Facilities manager Doug Brown had spoken to the town’s consultant the other day, who, in turn, told him that CN had 400 applications for crossings on their desk—and the town’s is in the top 100.
“That doesn’t induce any confidence in me whatsoever that our project is going to get done this year,” McCaig admitted.
“This is long enough, this is
actually ridiculous.”
McCaig said he also has tried to contact CN regarding ditching work, and got no response regarding that, either.
The upgrades to the storm sewer pumping station, which will cost more than $533,000 (half paid for with gas tax funds, half through long-term debt), originally were supposed to be done during the underpass reconstruction.
“That pumping station is going to make some of the issues we’ve had in regards to drainage go away,” McCaig explained.
“Yeah, we have a nice new roadway there and nice new retaining walls, but this is a big component of that job being completed, probably the most important,” he stressed.
Mayor Roy Avis said the town should keep trying to find a way to “move up that chain” at CN and get the attention of the right person so the project can move ahead.
“That’s ridiculous to take that length of time,” he remarked.
Meanwhile, a project that definitely will not be going ahead in 2011 is the reconstruction of Scott Street from Reid Avenue to Colonization Road East.
The job has been put on hold for a third-straight year because the town did not receive “Connecting Link” funding from the province to do so.
The funding, which is given out to help maintain provincial highways, was divvied up at the beginning of March but no municipalities in this region received any.
Brown said the province announced $18.2 million for 26 projects in 23 municipalities in Ontario on March 4.
“Most of them are in Liberal ridings,” he quipped. “Should maybe take that to the bank.”
The project would have cost about $2.76 million, paid for through “Connecting Link” dollars, as well as federal gas tax funds and local sewer and water reserves.
It would include the new roadway, sewer and water infrastructure, and sidewalks for the aforementioned stretch of Scott Street.
