Waterloo region gets federal money for new buses, storage facility

Four weeks after the province announced it would fund 17 transit projects in Waterloo region, the federal government has announced will provide funding for five of those projects.

The five projects include the purchase of 15 new diesel buses to increase service, 15 new clean diesel buses to replace existing buses, 19 new specialized transit buses to replace others as well astwo specialized buses for the MobilityPlus service.

It also includes $47.5 million in federal money for a new bus maintenance and storage facility.

Region of Waterloo Chair Karen Redmansays it's a quick turnaround by the federal government to approve the five projects.

But she also says it's unlikely construction on the bus facility, which was slated to be completed by 2021, will begin this year.

"We absolutely will go to tender now that we have this information. Whether or not we can get the bids in and get shovels in the ground, it depends how early the ground freezes and when the snow comes. So that's a big question mark," Redman said."Probably realistically it'll be in the spring."

If construction is delayed by one year,that could impact the final budget for the projects, Redman said.

"Those kinds of risks are always inherent when you're building," she said.

'We can move forward'

Thefunding announcement was made Thursday morning at the Region of Waterloo offices in Kitchener with several local Liberal MPs on hand.

It comes after the province announced it had submitted 17 projects to the federal government as part of the Investing in Canada infrastructure plan.

In a release, Waterloo MP and Government House Leader Bardish Chagger said projects like this "transform the way Canadians live, move and work."

Redman also said the announcement was good news for the region.

"We are now in a position where we can move forward with this really important key project in our projected increase in transit," she said.

Redman said she's also hopeful there will be more funding announcements in the near future as the federal government goes through the submissions from the province.

For Thursday's announcement, the federal government will fund $57 million of the five projects, the province will contribute $47 million and the region will pay $55 million.