County councillors are trying once again to find a reasonable way to deal with county bridges on local roads.
If history is a guide, they could well fail – as councils have a number of times in the past.
The issue was part of the amalgamation process and council rejected some of the recommendations about who would take on what bridges from that recommendation. Council tried again around 2003, but got no where during a roads rationalization study because local municipalities feared the county was simply downloading costs of projects on them.
The roads committee minutes carried a recommendation on Feb. 25 that the county rebuild or close, if that is deemed appropriate, bridges designated as county bridges on local roads on a priority basis; thereafter responsibility for the bridges is to be returned to the local municipality.
Roads committee chairman Rod Finnie acknowledged, “This is not something that is going to happen over night.” But, he said, it is an attempt “to ensure our county transportation system actually functions as a transportation system.”
Finnie talked with former engineer Alan Holmes recently about how some bridges were built on local roads, how they might be organized so “county assets serve county purposes, and local assets serve local purposes.” He agreed some bridges “see minimal use.”
Councillor Chris White suggested talking with local municipalities, so everyone has a proper understanding of it.
Puslinch and Mapleton do not have any county bridges on local roads, leaving five meetings with local councillors.
White added it might make sense to consider some other swaps of ownership, and cited Everton. He said the idea would be to “put the responsibilities where they belong.”
Finnie said he would be pleased to meet with municipal councils, and stressed “This isn’t an attempt to download.”
But, he said, major arterial roads should be considered for the county, and municipal roads should serve municipal needs.
He added that current county engineer Gord Ough has been trying to get the roads and bridges under the proper jurisdiction “since he started at the county.”
Finnie added if there are some roads that can take a transfer of ownership, he is willing to consider that.
Councillor Mike Broomhead cited a case where a county road in Wellington North is shared with another county. He said Wellington Dufferin Concession 13 was built some years ago, and, “if you take out the manure spreaders, it gets about 2.5 vehicles a day.”
Councillors seemed to acknowledge that finding agreements is not going to be easy.
Broomhead noted the issue has been mentioned for at least the last three or four years.
Finnie pointed out the committee was saying the county would “fix the bridges first” before handing them over to the municipality. The committee had also talked of funding up to 80% of the bridges’ repairs in the future, too, but never did make that recommendation.
Finnie urged councillors to consider the transportation process for the entire county.
Councillor Jean Innes wondered why smaller municipalities should pay for larger bridges. She said the township already pays one-third of the tax bill.
Finnie said if a bridge is used for county purposes, maybe the bridge and the road should be owned by the county.
White asked there be an addendum to the recommendation that the county hold meetings with municipalities.
Councillor Brad Whitcombe complained that would be making deals again, and said that is the reason the county needs to find a process to accomplish its aims.
Councillor Barb McKay said how the county proceeds should come from its committee.
Chris White’s amendment to have the county meet with local councils was seconded by councillor Lynda White and it carried.
Finnie asked that all the mayors on council take the issue back to their council.
“This is a two-way process,” he emphasized.
In his report to council, Ough noted that the Armstrong Kitchen report on amalgamation had recommended the county assume responsibility for all bridges in Wellington, but county council rejected that.
He also noted if the county was to hand back repaired bridges, the current two candidates are the Irvine River bridge on David Street in Elora, repaired in 2003, and Hagan’s bridge, on Jones Baseline, done in 2004.
Ough explained the county bridges on local roads used to get funding from the province, but when that funding was cut, they were ignored. He said councils simply reapplied for funding for the next year.
“The County Bridges on Local Roads program was notoriously underfunded and these bridges across the province were left to deteriorate. Consequently, there is a large unfunded liability associated with these bridges,” Ough said in his report.
Some of the bridges in Wellington were built as far back as 1920, and the estimated cost to repair the 12 of them is about $4.7-million.
