ROADS

The deterioration of our roads continues to be a pressing problem.

In late 2004, City staff provided an Infrastructure Management Report indicating that the City had $65.7 million (in 2004 dollars) of water, sewer and road infrastructure work in need of immediate attention. Council was advised that 23% (nearly a quarter!) of our City’s roads were in poor or very poor condition.

In the follow-up Pavement Management Summary report of early 2005, engineering consultants indicated the longer our roads are left to deteriorate, the more it costs the taxpayers in the long run. Janice realized the importance of those reports and has kept them firmly in mind ever since.

When left neglected too long, roads pass the point of no return, where no longer can the City just repair or rehabilitate them. Instead, they need to be reconstructed, at a cost of four to five times more.

Less than 2% of the value of our roads is being spent to maintain them. This simply is not enough.

Too many budgets have contained inadequate monies for roadwork, while many unnecessary items have been approved instead. Janice has voted against budgets because she believed that Council’s spending priorities were misplaced.

Lower-priority items continue to bump important necessary infrastructure spending year after year. Janice strongly believes in focusing on core services like sewers, water mains, and roads.

Janice is prepared to continue to advocate for properly funding roads and other basic infrastructure which we all use in our daily lives.

Sewers and Water Mains | Roads | Rural Infrastructure | Straight Talk on Taxes