Greater Sudbury Mayor Brian Bigger is holding a news conference Thursday to talk about why he supports the Maley Drive extension.
Nickel Belt MP Marc Serré will be in attendance, along with representatives from Sudbury MP Paul Lefebvre and Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault.
The $80.1 million roads project has become a lighting rod for some in the city, with opponents launching social media campaigns on blogs and Facebook.
Critics also came out to a public meeting on Maley held March 1 (watch the broadcast here). The public has until Friday to offer their comments.
The project has been the city's top infrastructure priority for decades. City planners say it will take 1,500 vehicles a day off Lasalle Boulevard and The Kingsway, as well as routing heavy ore trucks away from those roads and the heart of the city. Maley is also expected to extend the life of both roads, saving the city $8 million-$10 million in maintenance costs.
The city has produced a video on Maley and gave an updated presentation at the public meeting you can see here.
After years of trying – and failing – to get the province and federal government to provide their one-third share of the costs, the province agreed to fund Maley in 2014, and the federal government is expected to follow suit should council confirm its support for Maley.
Bigger has introduced a motion for the March 22 council meeting in which he's asking councillors to commit to the project. Ward 2 Coun, Michael Vagnini has said he opposes the project, and his adviser, Tom Price, has been one of the most vocal critics of the project.
However other councillors have come out in support or haven't publicly committed one way or the other.
