WINDSOR: The Ontario government is providing $30 million to municipalities through the Connecting Links Program for 2021-22 to build, repair, or replace local roads and bridges.
This investment will help create jobs and keep people and goods moving as the province continues to recover from COVID-19.
Making the announcement in Windsor, Premier Doug Ford said: “This investment is another part of our made-in-Ontario plan for growth, renewal and economic recovery.”
Ford was accompanied by Kinga Surma, Associate Minister of Transportation (GTA), and Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development.
“The investment we are making today is not just about improving our roads and bridges. It’s also about creating good jobs in communities across the province, ensuring businesses can get their goods to market, and getting people to work on time and home sooner so they can spend more time with their families,” said Premier Ford.
The Connecting Links Program provides funding to eligible municipalities of up to 90 per cent of eligible project costs, up to a maximum of $3 million for road projects.
The province is permanently raising the amount of available funding for bridge projects from $3 million to $5 million to reflect the higher costs of maintaining and repairing bridges compared to roads.
Eligible costs include the design, construction, renewal, rehabilitation and replacement of roads and bridges that connect two ends of a provincial highway through a community or to a border crossing.