A much sought-after truck route for Sudbury may soon come to pass.
While not yet official, Northern Life newspaper reported that Ottawa has agreed to provide its one-third share of funding for the $80-million extension of Maley Drive.
The Globe and Mail reported last week that
projects the feds have approved include “road work in
Sudbury.”
Comment from Infrastructure Canada was not
immediately forthcoming, but a source told Northern Life that the
federal government has provisionally approved funding for Maley, but
a funding agreement and announcement is still to come.
The province agreed during last June's election
to provide $26.7 million for a scaled back of the mammoth
road-building project. With the city committed to Maley for several
years, all that was left was a commitment from the federal
government.
In December, the province included Maley in a list of
projects it prioritized for support under the federal Conservative
government's Building Canada Fund, a $14 billion national
infrastructure fund. Ontario's share is about $2.72 billion.
Andrew
Forgione, press secretary to Brad Duguid, Ontario's minister of
economic development, said in an email the province remains firmly
committed to Maley funding.
He said Maley was included as a priority in a
list submitted in December, but the province hasn't received an
official response.
“We will continue calling on the
federal government to come to the table and cover their one-third of
the cost of the project,” Forgione said.
In the planning
stages since 1980, the Maley extension would allow heavy mining
trucks to bypass Lasalle Boulevard and The Kingsway. It would also
give commuters an alternative route getting across town, easing
congestion along both routes.
While the $26.7 million isn't the
full one-third share of the roughly $130-million project, when
combined with matching funds from the city and federal governments,
city staff have said it would be enough to complete the ring, with
road widening and other improvements to come in later stages.
Maley
is currently in poor condition and this spring was named one of the
worst roads in Northern Ontario in the CAA's annual competition.
