The Town of Bancroft has been awarded funding that will cover most of the costs associated with the rehabilitation work on Hastings Street North.
The total funding comes out of $2,186,279, which the Town’s Director of Corporate Services and Clerk Lianne Sauter says will cover 90-percent of the cost associated with the project. The funding was approved through the Ministry of Transportation’s 2020-21 Connecting Link Program. “The Town applied for this funding in November 2019, and the project became eligible as a result of Ontario’s Action Plan: Responding to COVID-19, which made an additional $10 million in funding available to municipalities to help repair connecting link roads and bridges,” she adds.
The work will be done on a nearly one and a half kilometre stretch on Hastings Street North from the intersection at Bridge Street East to “approximately” Bancroft Sport and Marine. Sauter says the project will include resurfacing, upgrading crosswalks, improving stormwater management, replacing culverts, and upgrading traffic signal lights on the main street.
The Town was previously denied funding for this project. In May, Public Works Manager Perry Kelly told the MyBancroftNow.com newsroom they applied for just under $3 million.
“More than five million vehicles travel on our Connecting Link highway each year, and the cost of maintenance and repair if significant,” Mayor of Bancroft Paul Jenkins says. He adds that this project – along with the one set to begin soon on Highway 28 – are important projects that will result in significant improvements for both stretches of road.
Sauter says they expect the design and engineering for the project to be done this year, with working completed in 2021.