Timmins has received $3 million in provincial funding — the maximum allowable amount under the program — to complete upgrades to Highway 101.
Highway 101, which is also known as Algonquin Blvd., runs for 21.2 kilometres through Timmins. It’s the city’s main thoroughfare and part of the provincial highway system.
Funding for the upgrades comes from the Connecting Links program. It will be used to upgrade two kilometres of Highway 101, starting from Bruce Ave. and moving west.
Highway 101 is in notoriously bad shape, with repairs needed both to the surface asphalt and the underground infrastructure.
A roads repair report recently completed for the City of Timmins by AECOM pegged the total repairs, to be done over 10 years, at $95.5 million.
In the past, Timmins Mayor Steve Black has said the money allotted by the province for road repairs is not nearly enough to complete the work required.
The Connecting Links program provides municipalities with funding to help repair the roadways and bridges that connect to provincial highways and border crossings. Up to 90 per cent of eligible project costs will be available — up to $3 million — for design, construction, renewal, rehabilitation and replacement projects.
The program will provide $20 million in 2016-2017 — up from the $15 million announced last year — $25 million in 2017-2018, and $30 million per year by 2018-2019.
According to the province, there are 350 kilometres of roads and 70 bridges along Connecting Links in 77 municipalities in Ontario.
The new Connecting Links program, announced in 2015, is a replacement of a former, similar program which the province cancelled in 2013.
