Overview 

The public works manager is responsible for the following services: roads, water and waste management. For this web page and ease of information sharing the water and waste services have been separated into their own departments. The public works departments' main responsibility is the municipal road system and its supporting infrastructure such as bridges, ditches, culverts, lighting, entrances, signs etc.

Our goal is to provide a safe and convenient roadway network that facilitates the orderly movement of traffic all year round. Roads management encompasses the following general maintenance services, grading, shoulder repair, repair of potholes (patching resurfacing), proper signs, tree trimming and drainage which includes new ditching and ditch maintenance, placement, maintenance of culverts. In addition to the above there are seasonal services such as snow plowing, sanding, maintenance of municipal parking lots at beaches and some road ends that provide water access to various lakes or rivers.

Roads Management Plan

The roads management plan is based on a roads assessment study conducted in December of 2013. This study provided a long term benchmark describing all of our roads, their length (total of 120.8 km), the road surface type (gravel, hard surface, etc.), road width, if it has a bus route, a condition rating at the time of the study, the last year it was improved, an estimate of the cost to reconstruct and when it needs to be done again. We have also prepared an estimate of when all of our bridges need to be replaced and their associated cost. All bridges are inspected every two years by a qualified engineer. In theory the plan will have an indefinite life because we update it for road work done each year. In addition to our long term planning tools all of our roads are patrolled by our public works employees & public works manager. Should a road condition develop that requires a significant repair it will be moved forward in our budget process. At the start of our budget process Council does an annual road tour to see first hand what types of capital projects are planned for all departments.

The Municipality received funding from the Province of Ontario through the Municipal Modernization Program to have a Transportation department service delivery review completed.  Here is the report (pdf 11658kb) prepared by an independent third-party reviewer dated September 1, 2021.

At this time any feedback from the public to Council is also considered and the public can attend any of our meetings or write us a letter expressing their concern about any road.

Road Maintenance 

Another significant tool that is used to ensure the roads are safe and well maintained are the policy directives from the Municipal Act's minimum maintenance standards (pdf 181kb).

As outlined in the Municipal Act's Standards, all 120.8 km of road are classified based on traffic count and other unique features of the road or values that are in the road service area. For example the location of a fire hall on a road would be considered a high value item and push the road classification up. Road classifications are from class 1 to class 6, the lower the number means that it has lower traffic counts and no unusual features or values and as a result has a lower service level. A class 1 road usually is a seasonal road with more than 8,000 vehicle trips per day or a posted speed limit of 91-100 km/h. Details on exact figures can be found in the Municipal Act's Standards.