Bancroft consolidates roads capital to Detlor

July 27, 2017

By Sarah Sobanski

Bancroft council is refocusing its 2017 roads budget.

Council held a special meeting July 19 following new recommendations from the town’s manager of public works Perry Kelly for its capital budget.

“I had estimated $220,000 of work in the Detlor Road capital budget alone. With budget restraints that was minimized to $150,000… Anticipating spending $150,000, we investigated the costing of putting pavement padding in the sections of Detlor Road that were in desperate need of repair. To my surprise, using last year’s numbers, it was in excess of $400,000 to do those repairs,” said Kelly, explaining this led him to choose treating the road with double surface treatment. “It’s not as good as asphalt, but cost comparatively it stands up to wear and tear quite well. Mainly looking at the Detlor Road from Hwy 62 South to Detlor, I purchased my home there in 1989 and there has been no work done to that road other than pothole repairs since 1989. So it does stand up considerably well.”

The recommendation includes consolidating $40,000 allocated for Chemausghon Road, $30,000 allocated for Maxwell Settlement Road, $10,000 allocated for a work truck lease and $4,000 allocated for aggregate crushing and adding an additional $36,000. This will allow works crews to revamp more than six kilometres of Detlor Road and increase “the useful life of the road for 10 years.”

“I compare tar chips to shingles… You’ve got a layer of tar with stones tramped into it and it has a lifespan. Once it reaches a certain lifespan the road starts to disintegrate and fall apart and that’s what’s taking place now… It’s a full-time job just patching the road. You can patch it today, and in two days, you’ll be patching it again,” said Councillor Barry McGibbon. “It’s the oldest of all the roads that were on the calendar as far as being resurfaced.”

Acting mayor Paul Jenkins asked if it would be better to isolate the worst sections of the road and repair them, concerned about other roads that needed repair. Kelly said there was wear in the road where tires run across the entire distance he suggested needed to be repaired.

Jenkins however, spoke about sections of Chemausghon Road that were also in desperate need of repair.

“I went back over it again yesterday, and I’m really not sure other than cut and replace how you can really do anything with that road because it’s going sideways, up and down and everywhere else. I would guess that we’re basically substituting one for the other,” said Jenkins.

Kelly noted later in the meeting that he had approached contractors about pavement padding for Chemausghon last year and no one would bid for it.

Councillor Mary Kavanagh wanted to know what the timeline would be for the rest of Bancroft’s roads to be repaired, if the report was to go forward with only patching other roads. She noted Chemausghon and main roads that she thought were in critical need.

“Connecting links is another whole apple,” said Kelly, speaking of Bancroft’s highways.

“Management is able to accomplish this reallocation of capital by completing designated roads repairs with cold mix patches within the 2017 operating budget, allocating road repairs to [the] 2018 capital budget, and focusing priority on Detlor Road construction,” read Kelly’s report.

Council approved Kelly’s recommendation — $270,441 will now go to Detlor Road.