FORT FRANCES — A key section of roadway in this border town will get renewed with the help of up to $2.51 million in funding from Ontario’s Connecting Links program.
The money will go towards reconstruction of Scott Street (Highway 11) from Mosher Avenue to Armit Avenue.
That’s important because Scott “is our main thoroughfare going across the entire town,” Mayor Andrew Hallikas said Friday.
“And then, in addition to that, it’s also what’s considered a connecting link, which means it’s connecting two ends of a provincial highway.
“So in addition to the traffic it would get normally get just due to the fact that it’s a main street in Fort Frances, we also get a significant amount of truck traffic and traffic coming off the highway and passing through Fort Frances to elsewhere. So it’s a pretty main traffic artery.”
Hallikas said he would like to see the roadwork begin this year, and added that work on old water and sewer infrastructure below the surface of Scott Street will also be done.
The Connecting Links program helps rural and northern municipalities maintain vital roads and bridges that connect people to jobs, support the movement of goods and drive economic growth.
Kenora-Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford said in a news release on Friday that Connecting Links “is making targeted investments to ensure municipal partners … have the tools they need to succeed in strengthening these local corridors.”
The news release also announced funding for the reconstruction of a stretch of Duke Street in Dryden.
