The federal government has announced more than $22 million in funding for road and bridge projects in central and eastern Ontario, including $4.78 million for upgrades to the James A. Gifford Causeway and Yankee Line in Selwyn Township.
Peterborough-Kawartha MP Maryam Monsef announced the $4,787,500 in new funding for the causeway and Yankee Line on Friday morning. The 68-year-old causeway spans Chemong Lake and connects the communities of Bridgenorth and Ennismore.
Peterborough County says the causeway is one of its busiest roads, as more than 10,000 vehicles a day cross the 1.4-kilometre stretch, but it is in need of upgrades and stabilizing to meet an expected increase in traffic.
The $9.6-million project for the causeway, including widening, got underway last fall, with the province committing $3,191,348 — 33.3 per cent of the total budget — while the county provided $1,406,152.50 and the township contributed $190,000. The goal is to improve safety for motorists and pedestrians and extend the life of the bridge and roadway.
Friday’s new federal funding — covering 50 per cent of the project — will also help rehabilitate 5.3 kilometres on Yankee Line (County Road 14), which joins the causeway in Ennismore. The project is a joint effort between the county and the township.
“Rural communities are the backbone of the Canadian economy,” said Monsef, minister for women and gender equality and rural economic development.
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“By investing in projects like these, we are helping to make them stronger, more competitive and we are contributing to our country’s economic recovery. Not only will these vital projects help create well-paying jobs during the construction phase, they will have long-lasting benefits for residents and businesses for years to come.”
Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith praised the investment.
“This project is an investment of over $9.5 million from Ontario, the federal and local recipients,” said MPP Smith. “This will create jobs, improve local infrastructure and help to kick start the reopening of the local economy.”
Laurie Scott, Ontario’s minister of infrastructure, said the causeway and road are “shovel-ready projects” that will provide much-needed job creation to help the municipality recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Investing in infrastructure is essential to the recovery of central and eastern Ontario’s economy,” said Scott, MPP for nearby Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock. “These projects build new roads and bridges and drive local economic development in these communities.”
J. Murray Jones, warden of Peterborough County, says the causeway is the largest infrastructure project the county has ever undertaken and the largest overall grant funding project in the county’s history.
“The Investing in Canada infrastructure plan, supported by both federal and provincial investments, will allow the county and township to move forward with the much-needed infrastructure and safety improvements to the James A. Gifford Causeway,” he said.
Other area projects in central Ontario and their federal funding amounts include:
- Asphodel-Norwood: Nine kilometres of Centre Line Road between County Road 45 and Asphodel 3rd Line ($1,152,900)
- Hiawatha First Nation: Paudash Street reconstruction between Cowe Street and Lakeshore Road ($3,611,139)
- Minden Hills: Replacement of the Sedgewick Bridge to create a two-lane bridge ($571,078)
- Highlands East: Replacement of the South Wilberforce Bridge ($843,480)
Other projects in eastern Ontario are in Beausoleil First Nation, Collingwood, Adjala-Tosorontio and the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte within Hastings County.
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