Municipalities will get extra cash to deal with weather-beaten roads, the province announced May 9.
“Above-average precipitation and colder-than-average temperatures have caused a substantial increase in the number and severity of potholes on roads throughout the province,” said Premier Heather Stefanson in a news release.
“Inflation and supply chain issues have also added to this challenge,” she added.
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The province pledged $15 million through a one-time, road-reconstruction grant program. Funds will be divvied up on a per capita basis between Manitoba’s 137 municipalities. Winnipeg gets the lion’s share at $9 million.
The funding is in addition to any disaster assistance municipalities could receive due to excessive flood- ing, the province said. Full details of this grant will be made available to municipalities in the coming weeks.
According to the province, the grant is equivalent to a five per cent increase to the operating and infra- structure funding municipalities receive annually through Manitoba’s ‘basket funding’ model.
“The Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) commends the Province of Manitoba for invest- ing $15 million to help support municipal infrastructure repairs,” said Kam Blight, AMM president, in a news release.
In its 2022 budget, the province promised over $2.4 billion in strategic infrastructure investments in 2022 through 2024.
At the time, Blight praised the commitment, but said that at a municipal level, governments were “always looking for funding supports,” as they faced rising costs and worked to maintain a lot of infrastructure.
