Clarification: This story has been clarified from an earlier version to show the United Counties will be upgrading the entire portion of County Road 1, south of County Road 2, with SD&G footing the bill. It won’t leave South Dundas with a bill for a portion of the road. The updated story also adds reaction from South Dundas.
SD&G – South Dundas won’t be getting exactly what it wanted from the county when it comes to a road swap agreement.
The township and county agreed to trade Upper Canada Road for a section of County Road 1, south of County Road 2.
The county now owns Upper Canada Road and, with $150,000 promised by the St. Lawrence Parks Commission, it will be making upgrades to the connecting link between Highway 401 and County Road 2.
South Dundas had hoped for $350,000 from the county to bring the section of County Road 1 up to some level of standard before the transfer.
But United Counties council decided Monday to incorporate the work into the project to add a roundabout in Iroquois at County Roads 1 and 2.
The county will repair the road south of County Road 2 and will be using its $1.7 million EDP Renewables fund it received in March 2015 as compensation for road damage from the South Branch Wind Farm.
“Although this option does not provide direct compensation for the entire works as requested by South Dundas, it is not without merit, bearing in mind that the County has committed to accepting and upgrading Upper Canada Road,” said County Engineer Ben de Haan, in a report to council.
“We are very pleased with the deal as it is a win-win for everyone. The cooperation between the municipality and the county is another example of on going efforts to maximize stakeholder values,” said South Dundas roads manager Chris Bazinet in an email to CNW.
Deputy Mayor Jim Locke will likely comment on the deal tonight (Tuesday) when he presents his county council report to the township council.