City to double spending for repaving roads in 2022

The City of Ottawa plans tomore than double itsspending forrepaving existing roads next year, mostlyby issuing$39 million in debt.

The 2022 draft budget calls for $76million to be spent on resurfacing a long list of roads, up from$36.9 million in 2021. Projections show spending shouldreturn to more normal levels in the years to follow.

The city manages more than 6,000kilometres of roads, transportation committee heard Wednesday as it approved its portion of the draft budget.

• City playing catch-up as potholes multiply

City councillors regularlyhear complaints from residentsabout the state of the city's roads: the cracks, the potholes, and the waythey're repaired.

While city staff could not immediately say how muchis spenton claims for damage to vehicles, that was one of the concerns for resident Ken Holmes, whomakes a presentation every year at budget time.

He welcomed the "substantial" increase but urged the city to keep up onmaintenance so it doesn't pay more in the long-term.

Low debt costs

The budget has earmarked$133 million to renew roads next year, including upgrades for rural roads and rebuilding roads during major sewer and watermain replacements.

Manyresidential streets have beenpatched for years and are in poor condition,Innes ward Coun. Laura Dudas pointed out.

The city hasbeen focused onrepairing collector and arterial roads, and Dudas said shehoped smaller local streets would soon get their turn.

The city has been able to speed up planned repaving projects by using some federalgas tax revenues and by taking advantage of low debt costs, said chief financial officer Wendy Stephanson.

"We're able to issue debt at a very low price to be able to deliver on these sooner rather than later," she told reporters.

Pitch for cycling network

River ward Coun.Riley Brockington said his residents will appreciatethe fixes but wondered why thecity was taking out debt for that job andnot proportionately increasing spending forcycling and sidewalks.

The City of Ottawa will spend $10 million on new cycling infrastructureand $2 million to fix up existing paths in 2022. Many councillors were interested inan idea put forward Wednesday by economist Neil Saravanamootooto dramatically speed that up.

During his public delegation, Saravanamootoo suggested the city take out a loan at a low interest rateand spend $250 million to build the desired networkfor residents now, instead of slowly over 25 years.

Doing so, he argued, would reduce traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions while also putting less wear on the road network.

"We can follow in the footstepsof other cities that have decided to build up their entire bike networks in a couple of years," said Saravanamootoo, pointing to Montreal, Paris,Chicago, and Milan.

City staff said it was possible to push aheadplans to expand the cycling network, but they could be limited by the capacity of the construction industry. Councillors took no special steps at the meeting to follow up on the idea.

The transportation portion of the city budget, which represents $338million on operations and $427 millionin capital projects, goes to full council on Dec. 8.

Councillors Jeff Leiper and Mathieu Fleury dissented on the capital spending for transportation.