Fort Frances is again delaying a planned road project by a year.
Improvements to Scott Street between Mosher and Armit Avenues will be put off until 2026 because of the lateness in the town receiving provincial funding.
The province announced it at the beginning of May.
In previous years, funding for improvements to municipal roads that serve as links to the provincial highway system is announced in March or early April, allowing municipalities to issue tenders for the coming construction season.
This is the second time in two years that a road project has been moved because of funding delays.
It happened last year with the Third Street project that started earlier this month.
Operations and Facilities Manager Travis Rob says it creates some planning difficulties.
“That is troubling to me as the person that’s trying to put these projects on, that if that trend continues, we’re just continuously going to be either a year behind or a year ahead, depending on how you want to look at it,” says Rob.
A report to council notes administration reached out to the province about the ability to extend its funding into 2026 and was told that Fort Frances was not the only community making such a request.
Councillor Wendy Brunetta suggested taking a political route to learning why and pressing upon the government to award funding soon.
“I’m just wondering maybe in terms of a delegation we could take to AMO (Association of Municipalities of Ontario) with the ministry to express our concerns that when they’re awarded this late, we have a hard time getting those projects completed,” says Brunetta.
The project is now out for tender and is expected to be awarded later this year.
Work on a section of Scott between Mosher and Reid Avenues is still expected to proceed as planned.
