Thunder Bay council aims to catch up on road work

Expect a lot more roadwork in Thunder Bay over the next three years. City council has opted to almost double the resurfacing budget to $12 million, starting in 2012.

This year, Thunder Bay spent just under $7 million on paving roads. Next year, city councillors will budget about $12 million for paving city streets.

City project engineer Mike Vogrig said the increase is necessary because the roads are in such a bad state.

"Basically what it means is we're not able to catch roads at this rehabilitation stage," he said. "More and more are falling into that... reconstruction stage."

But Councillor Mark Bentz said if the roads are that bad, the city should consider spending more than 12-million.

"But, if you're only spending about six million dollars a year on pavement, and you really need 12 to hold your own, boy, that's a shock," Bentz said.

City managers estimate about $30 million would help clear up the backlog of roadwork. But that may be a conservative figure, as that number is only for paving, and not for reconstruction.

Thunder Bay manager of engineering Pat Mauro said the increase will help fix city streets before requiring a total rebuild.

"The key message in this presentation is the percentage of roads that are falling within reconstruction," he noted. "And those costs are 250 per cent more expensive."