When Greater Sudbury was created at the turn of the century, the municipality that stood to lose the most was Rayside-Balfour.
In the late 1990s, when the NDP government introduced gambling facilities to the province, Rayside Mayor Lionel Lalonde jumped at the chance, while other municipalities in the former Region of Sudbury turned up their nose at the idea.
The municipality's share of revenue from the Slots at Sudbury Downs was more than $1 million a year, and the community planned to use the money to improve MR35, the roadway that connects Azilda and Chelmsford to Sudbury.
Then amalgamation happened, and despite commitments to fix the road, the revenue from the slots (currently around $2 million a year) went into general revenue.
Ward 3 Coun. Gerry Montpellier says he ran for office specifically to get the four-laning of MR35 done. On Tuesday, he said the community's decades-long wait was over: construction signs are going up along the route, with completion of the $34 million project expected late in 2019 or in early 2020.
"I am ecstatic about it,” Montpellier said Tuesday. “It's official. Geothermic drilling starts next week."
While pace has been "aggravatingly" slow, he said he's happy things are moving forward to fulfill the promise made at amalgamation to widen “this dangerous road.”
"This was a deal done when they took on the casino at Sudbury Downs," Montpellier said. "It was an agreement at the time with Lionel Lalonde."
Getting MR35 completed motivated him to run for office, he added, and when he was elected in 2014, Montpellier went around Tom Davies Square holding a basket "looking for our money.
"We have $30 million and I'm here to claim it for the road," he told staff. "It's the reason people sent me there."
Work could wrap up by Christmas 2019, Montpellier said. One of the challenges of the project is that MR35 runs parallel to the railway tracks. Montpellier said that means it has to be built on the opposite side of the tracks.
"Otherwise, it would take 100 years to negotiate with the railway."
The roadwork will include culverts and watermains, and will help link cycling trails to different parts of the city.
"This sucker will have a bicycle path on it," Montpellier said. "I feel giddy."
With MR35 now proceeding, he joked he's leaving politics, even though he and Ward 2 Coun. Michael Vagnini are the only two councillors without opponents in the October election.
"That's it, I'm done,” he said. “I'm going to retire tomorrow."
