By Chad Ingram

After a number of years on the books, Minden Hills township began work on the long-awaited reconstruction of Bobcaygeon Road last week. 

The project, which is a complete reconstruction of the thoroughfare connecting Bobcaygeon Road to what is now Dollo’s Foodland, has been included in the township’s draft budget for years, often deferred at budget time as council looks to mitigate property tax increases. 

Minden Hills councillors decided during an April meeting that the project would proceed in 2020. Restrictions in place from the provincial government amid the COVID-19 pandemic at that time meant that only infrastructure projects considered “critical” could proceed. 
“Some of the concerns I have, is that some of these things, I feel, yes, they’ve been that way for a long time, but I still consider them critical,” Deputy Mayor Lisa Schell said of a list of projects during an April 30 meeting. “IGA Road may have looked the way it does for many years, but that doesn’t make it any less worthy to be fixed.” 

The township awarded the job – worth $410,000 with a contingency of $36,000 – to Four Brothers Construction. Work got underway on Aug. 19 and is expected to take four to six weeks to complete. The township has advised that residents should expect delays, partial lane closures and restricted access during that time. 

News of the project getting underway was welcome to Minden residents. 
“About time,” one reader wrote on the Minden Times Facebook page. 
“Finally!” wrote another. “This needed to be done ages ago.”