Algonquin Highlands township will apply to the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund for money to help with repairs to North Shore Road.
The township hired firm Engage Engineering to perform an assessment of the road portions of which are in rough shape due to heaving cracking and erosion.
The report identifies four problematic areas in particular – all along the stretch where North Shore Road runs close to the shore of Maple Lake – and suggests a number of potential solutions that combine ditch regrading road realignment new culverts retaining walls embankment protection and the installation of curbs and spillways.
“That’s where our major issues are starting to take over the erosion the shoreline” public works supervisor Adam Thorn told councillors during an Aug. 16 meeting.
“The cost is definitely up there” Thorn said.
The estimated total cost of the work is $741400 with $275000 coming from the township and the remainder being paid for through the OCIF should the application be successful. The township will try to complete the work removing as few trees as possible from along the shoreline and work in some areas may require pumping concrete down to the water’s edge.
“I’m hearing some horrifying words that you know when you talk about shoreline preservation and all that it’s just really hard to listen to but this obviously takes priority we’ve got to have a road” said Deputy Mayor Liz Danielsen.
“Are we in immediate danger of losing more road if we don’t go ahead and do some work soon?” Danielsen asked.
“In the short-term no I don’t believe” said interim operations manager Brian Nicholson adding that the township’s public works department would continue to perform surface corrections in the meantime.
“What’s your plan for communicating with the affected property owners?” asked Mayor Carol Moffatt “because there could be some folks whose lakeside infrastructure . . . it’s quite possible that if someone has a deck or a dock or a set of stairs that in order to shore up the road and make it the way it should be it could preclude them from putting that stuff back in. What’s the plan for notifying affected property owners?”
Thorn and Nicholson said that would be determined once the work itself was finalized and chief administrative officer Angie Bird said there would be time between finding out whether or not the funding is granted and the work commencing to determine how communication with property owners would be handled.
Should the grant be approved it’s planned the work would begin next year. The township has previously applied unsuccessfully for funding to assist with repairs to North Shore Road.