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Georgina facing $28.7M price tag to fix broken roads

YorkRegion.com
July 27, 2017
Heidi Riedner

To avoid a “critical state of disrepair”, $28.7 million is required to fix 38.5 kilometres of “broken” roads in Georgina, according to a report tabled at council July 19.

With almost a quarter of Georgina’s roads classified as “deficient” according to a 2015 assessment, a roads capital budget was proposed to initiate a roads reconstruction program targeting some 59 road sections in “dire” need of reconstruction or major repair.

An additional seven sections will need major repair in the next five years, with 21 anticipated within the next six to 10 years.

If they are not addressed, it will deteriorate the overall road value and create a “critical state of disrepair”, thereby increasing both risk of litigation toward the town and the eventual cost of reconstruction, the town's director of operations and infrastructure Dan Pisani said.

“We’re talking about big dollars here,” Pisani said, adding the strategy moving forward represents a shift from a reactive to a proactive approach, and a focus on maintenance and rehabilitation rather than reconstruction to address the estimated $370-million, 1,000-kilometre road network in the municipality.

That entails $3.2 million per year for the next 10 years for maintenance.

Resurfacing, rehabilitation, and preservation projects should be a higher priority than reconstruction projects, with the objective being to “keep the good roads good”, Pisani said, adding current budget amounts of $1.7 million are "not enough".

Under the plan, $2.5 million would go toward hot mix resurfacing, $484,000 for single surface treatment, $79,000 for gravel resurfacing, and $166,000 for crack sealing on an annual basis.

In addition, $6.5 million — or $20,000 for each assumed kilometre of road in the roads operating budget — would go to “soft costs” such as snow removal, administrative costs, spring cleanup, storm water drainage, and traffic control systems.

Proposed funding options —  to cover both Georgina's funding gap for roads and capital budget for reconstruction — including a higher share of the town's roughly $1 million in annual gas tax allotment, long-term debt, and setting up a roads reserve account will be presented to council as part of 2018 budget discussions.