A new four-lane roundabout is slated for construction at the Lasalle Boulevard and Frood Road intersection this year, and will receive $2 million in provincial funding to help make it a reality.
Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry Minister Greg Rickford made the funding announcement at council chambers in Tom Davies Square today, pledging $400,000 annually over five years for the project.
The new four-lane roundabout is expected to contribute to the overall Maley Drive Extension, whose goal is to help reroute heavy mining trucks and ease congestion along the Maley Drive and Lasalle Boulevard corridor.
Replacing the currently signalized intersection with a roundabout has been a long-planned component of the project’s second phase and will be similar to other roundabouts already in use along Maley Drive, including one a short distance east at the Collège Boréal entrance.
Following today’s funding announcement, Deputy Mayor and Ward 8 Coun. Al Sizer told Sudbury.com that the project will fit well into the city’s traffic-flow goals and help get heavy trucks off of Lasalle Boulevard.
Sizer represented the city during today’s funding announcement.
Greater Sudburians can expect to see shovels in the ground in June, Sizer said, adding that the $2-million boost will add some wiggle room to the project and allow the city to install amenities as needed to ensure “state-of-the-art construction” is employed.
“We’re hoping that this addition to the roundabout will allow traffic to flow more freely,” he said, describing the current signalled intersection as a pinch point in traffic flow during peak times. A roundabout will allow traffic to move more freely through the intersection.
Other roundabouts along the Maley Drive Extension appear to have been effective at improving traffic flow, he said. Although area residents should already be used to roundabouts and how they operate by now, Sizer said a public education component will come with the new roundabout. When the concept was first proposed, the city released a video that showed residents how to navigate them.
The provincial funding is coming from the Northern Ontario Resource Development Support pool of funds, which contributes $15 million annually to support northern infrastructure needs.
These projects relate to the forestry and mining sectors in the region, which contribute greatly to the provincial economy, Rickford said, adding, “We wanted to create a fund that would capture some of the impacts on infrastructure, some of which are covered by large-scale infrastructure projects.”
This project is “exactly what this fund was intended to do.”
This was the first of two announcements Rickford made in Greater Sudbury today, the other being $1.3 million in funding toward an outdoor theatre in downtown Sudbury, Kivi Park trails and a professional and community gathering centre in French River.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
