New traffic lights here signal spending in local infrastructure.
The Ontario government is providing $90,000 to Wellington North to improve safety at a major intersection in Arthur.
Perth-Wellington MPP John Wilkinson made the announcement on July 10 on behalf of Minister of Transportation Jim Bradley.
“I am pleased that funding has been approved from the Connecting Link program for Canada’s Most Patriotic Village,” Wilkinson said. “The installation of new traffic signals at Highway 6 [George Street] in Arthur will help create jobs today and ensure this busy intersection is safer for both local families and the many drivers who pass through Arthur.”
Wellington North Mayor Mike Broomhead said, “This is a much needed upgrade and once again we appreciate the support from the provincial government.”
Funding for the project is part of the 2009 Connecting Link budget program, which enables municipalities to repair roads that connect two ends of a provincial highway through an urban area.
“The key thing is that there are 77 communities in Ontario where they have roads which connect to parts of a provincial highway,” said Wilkinson. “There is an added burden on the municipality to keep those roads.
“Not only do they deal with local traffic, there is provincial traffic using it, whether it is commuters or transport trucks. There’s a greater burden on those municipalities with those connecting links.
“The Ministry of Transportation has been able to find $90,000 for the lights in Arthur, on George Street because it’s a connecting link for Highway 6.”
Wellington North Roads Superintendent Gary Williamson said Connecting Link work in Mount Forest was recently finished.
“Over the past couple of years, there’s been quite a bit of money that’s gone to the connecting link in Mount Forest,” Williamson said.
Wilkinson said lot of road work has been done to fix up the highway that goes through Mount Forest, and the latest grant is “just another example of how the province and the municipality can work together where you have a shared responsibility.”
He added, “While there is a benefit to the municipality obviously, there is also a cost. It’s important for me, as the MPP, to go to bat for my communities to make sure [the provincial government is] paying our fair share.”
