Ontario Construction News staff writer
Ottawa city council’s transportation committee has recommended a massive $454.8 million allocation to improve roads, bridges, sidewalks, pathways, bike lanes and more in 2024.
The draft 2024 budget will see the city invest a significant amount of money to repair and replace existing infrastructure, as well as to build new roads and pathways where needed.
Some of the key highlights of the plan approved at the committee’s Nov. 16 meeting include $76.5 million for road resurfacing, $10.9 million for sidewalk and pathway renewal, $38.7 million to renew bridges and structures, $50.4 million to build new roads and intersections, $10.3 million for new cycling infrastructure and multi-use pathways, and $32.2 million for transportation network assets.
The city is also committed to transitioning its municipal fleet to electric, hybrid and low-emission vehicles, and has earmarked $4.6 million in the 2024 budget to continue this transition.
The 2024 budget also includes $20.5 million to fund Road Safety Action Plan initiatives, which includes new traffic calming measures, awareness campaigns, enforcement and engineered solutions to reduce collisions and prevent injuries and fatalities. The city would invest $4.4 million to establish a new automated speed enforcement processing centre, which would allow the city to process and increase the funds generated by automated speed enforcement cameras.
The winter operations budget would also increase by $6.7 million to $92.5 million in 2024, which will help the city maintain its roads, sidewalks and pathways in the winter season.
The committee also received an update on the city’s winter maintenance quality standards, and noted that while there are no planned changes at this time, the city is committed to improving its winter maintenance by continuing to enhance its operations, including deploying resources strategically, providing 24/7 sidewalk maintenance, responding more proactively and aggressively to all weather events, and implementing a number of other measures.
Further improvements are planned for the current season, and the Committee is committed to providing residents with a safe and accessible winter experience.
City council will vote on the committee’s recommendations today except for the budget report, which council will consider on Dec 6.