CORNWALL/SOUTH DUNDAS – The United Counties is expected to take ownership of Upper Canada Road through a proposed highway swap with South Dundas.
This, after the county learned that upgrading its section of County Road 1, south of County Road 2 in Iroquois, would cost about the same to fix up.
Under the proposal, South Dundas would take ownership of the section of Carmen Road in Iroquois (known as County Road 1).
Both sections of road need $350,000 in work, according to the county, which is proposing the swap ahead of a comprehensive review of all its roads later this year.
The details of the deal still need to be worked out but the clock is also ticking, because there’s a verbal proposal on the table from the St. Lawrence Parks Commission of $150,000 for upgrading Upper Canada Road.
During a discussion with CNW following Tuesday’s county council meeting, Mayor Evonne Delegarde and Deputy Mayor Jim Locke suggested the trade is a done deal.
“It just fits in better with our village (County Road 1) … it’s also our tourism road that take you out to our waterfront and our campsite and our marina and it’s a really important road for us to have control of,” Delegarde said.
“What we would be getting out of the trade, we’d be getting rid of the CN overpass (on Upper Canada Road), that is the big concern in everything,” Coun. Jim Locke told Cornwall Newswatch.
South Dundas will address the Upper Canada Road proposal at the March 1 council meeting (tonight’s meeting was cancelled due to the weather).
“We’re going to have further discussions (with the county) to make sure we’re dealt with fairly,” Mayor Delegarde added.
County roads manager Ben de Haan said a lot of work has been put into other sections of County Road 1, including a $700,000 bridge rehabilitation, north of County Road 2. He highlighted this in noting there are no significant structures, other than a culvert, on the road to be given to South Dundas.
The $350,000 in work on County Road 1 is based on county standards, which are slightly higher and more expensive the South Dundas’ standards.