Ottawa

Potholes on the road to progress

The Canadian Federation of Municipalities issues a report card on the nation’s infrastructure.

The report card, which surveyed more than 120 municipalities representing 60% of the Canadian population, says more than half of municipal roads are falling apart beneath our tires. One in four roads is over capacity, transporting far more people and goods than it was designed to handle. And one in four wastewater treatment plants needs to be upgraded or replaced to meet new federal standards introduced this summer, at a cost of at least $20 billion.

Without immediate improvement and ongoing maintenance, the cost of fixing or replacing the assets studied will explode over the next decade. “Two billion dollars in federal funding for local governments is going to lapse by March 2014,” Leibovici said. “The new federal long-term infrastructure plan is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to put our essential infrastructure back on solid ground. Municipalities are ready to work with all partners – federal, provincial, territorial, and the private sector – to fix the problem once and for all.”

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