The Canadian and Ontario governments are investing $8 million in Peterborough County and the Township of Selwyn’s project to improve the James A. Gifford Causeway in Bridgenorth.
The two governments are also investing in other road and bridge improvement projects in the Kawarthas region, including in Hiawatha First Nation, Asphodel-Norwood in Peterborough County, Faraday in Hastings County, and Minden Hills and Highlands East in Haliburton County.
The funding was announced on Friday (June 19) by federal rural economic development minister and Peterborough-Kawartha MP Maryam Monsef, Ontario infrastructure minister and Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MPP Laurie Scott, and Peterborough County warden J. Murray Jones.
The James A. Gifford Causeway project will see improvements made to around 1.4 kilometres of the causeway, including repairs to the Chemong Bridge. An additional 5.3 kilometres on Yankee Line (County Road 14) are also being rehabilitated. These improvements will increase safety for motorists and pedestrians and extend the life of the bridge and roadway for many years.
The federal government is contributing $4.8 million to the project, with the Ontario government contributing $3.2 million and Peterborough County and the Township of Selwyn contributing $1.9 million.
“The James A. Gifford Causeway is the county’s busiest stretch of road and the causeway improvement plan is the largest infrastructure project that Peterborough County has undertaken and the largest overall grant-funded project in our history,” Jones said.
VIDEO: Infrastrucutre investments in Central and Eaatern Rural Ontario
Other projects in the Kawarthas region being jointly funded by the federal and provincial governments and local municipalities include:
- $1.9 million for the reconstruction of nine kilometres of Centre Line Road between County Road 45 and Asphodel 3rd Line in the Township of Asphodel-Norwood in Peterborough County
- $1.1 million for the replacement of the Old Hastings Road Bridge in Faraday in Hastings County
- $4.8 million for the recontruction of two kilometres of Paudash Street between Cowe Street and Lakeshore Road in Hiawatha First Nation
- $1.6 million for the replacement of the South Wilberforce Bridge in Highlands East in Haliburton County
- $1.2 million for the replacement of the Sedgewick Bridge in Minden Hills in Haliburton County
“Not only will these vital projects help create well-paying jobs during the construction phase, they will have long-lasting benefits for residents and businesses for years to come,” Monsef said.
Other jointly funded projects in central and eastern Ontario include road improvements in Beausoleil First Nation and Collingwood, as well as bridge repairs and replacements in Adjala-Tosorontio and the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte.
The Canadian government is investing over $22 million in these projects through the Rural and Northern Infrastructure Stream of the Investing in Canada infrastructure plan, with the Ontario government contributing more than $10 million, and municipalities and First Nation communities contributing more than $5 million.
“Investing in infrastructure is essential to the recovery of central and eastern Ontario’s economy,” Scott said. “These projects build new roads and bridges and drive local economic development in these communities.”
