With approximately $79 million of linear infrastructure work planned in Greater Sudbury this year, another $6 million has been recommended for a supplemental road rehabilitation program.
Linear infrastructure “includes the rehabilitation of the sanitary sewer, water and storm systems, bridges, culverts and pavement,” according to a municipal report to be discussed at the April 19 finance and administration committee meeting.
The additional $6 million being proposed comes as a result of a motion by Ward 8 Coun. Al Sizer last month in which he asked city administration to dig up additional funds for road work.
“A lot of the roads have really taken a hard hit this past winter,” he said at the time, citing an extreme freeze/thaw cycle this past winter season that left roads looking ragged.
“This is the echo we’re hearing from our residents a lot,” Ward 6 Coun. Rene Lapierre said. “The more that we can get done, if it’s possible, we should at least look at it to see what we can get accomplished for our residents.”
In the report city council will consider in committee on Tuesday, it’s recommended that the additional $6-million roads boost be spent on maintenance treatments. The funding is recommended to come from reserves.
The key road maintenance treatment method the city recommends is spreader-laid patches.
These patches are longer-lasting than pothole patching, as they involve removing a large area of deteriorating and cracking asphalt around the patch. The asphalt that replaces the area has an “increased compaction and smoothness that can be achieved with a mechanical spreader.”
The patches can extend the life of pavement by two to five years, according to the report, but can reach up to 10 years in cases where the road’s substructure isn’t damaged.
If the full $6 million is spent on spreader laid patches, approximately 100,000 square metres or the equivalent of 28.5 lane kilometres of pavement will be repaired – 0.8 per cent of the city’s 3,600 lane kilometres of roads.
The city has not budgeted any money this year toward surface treatment, which seals existing pavement to help prevent deterioration of the road surface. This might also be included in the $6-million expenditure, and would require a minimum of 13 lane kilometres at a cost of $1 million to make it worthwhile to bring in the out-of-town contractors.
The existing 2022 budget includes $79 million toward linear infrastructure and approximately 50 lane kilometres of asphalt to be rehabilitated. Some notable road projects include:
- Bancroft Drive – Nottingham Avenue to Levesque Street
- Paris Street – Van Horne Street to John Street
- Kingsway – Silver Hills Drive to Falconbridge Road
- Kingsway – Falconbridge Road to 1.5 km east of Falconbridge Road
- Larch Street – Elgin Street to Lisgar Street
- Municipal Road 24 – Anderson Drive to 2nd Avenue
- Municipal Road 35 – Big Nickel Road to Clarabelle Road
- Municipal Road 55 – 250 metres west of Eve Street to 360 metres west of Municipal Road 24
- Municipal Road 80 – Dutrisac Boulevard to Alexandre Street
- Radar Road – Skead Road to Jack Pine Crescent
- Walford Road – Regent Street to Paris Street
