Sudbury council wants new approach to road repairs

Sudbury city councillors are looking for ways to get more mileage out of their road repair budget.

During a meeting Monday night, they discussed how the current $28 million isn't enough to keep up city streets, and the budget is unlikely to get bigger.

Councillors and staff are considering scrapping the policy of spreading out the dollars to all corners of the city.

Coun. Lynne Reynolds said the city has to lower the expectations of Sudburians.

"We have to start looking at that and saying, 'either we fix your road to this standard or we can't afford to fix it at all'."

The general manager of infrastructure services agreed.

"We invest monies rehabilitating infrastructure that maybe we just simply can't afford to have," Tony Cecutti said.

Councillors asked staff to explore some options for how best to stretch out the road repair budget.

Ideas tossed around last night included fixing fewer residential streets, so that major roads can be taken care of.

Some also pushed for cheaper repaving options, instead of giving all roads top-of-the-line asphalt.

Take our poll: Is it a good idea to fix some roads well and let others go?