New Bridge? New Road? How are we going to pay for this?
The City of Brantford plans to fund the Oak Park Road Extension bridge and West Brant Access Route largely through Development Charges (DCs) collected from new growth or new industries, though exact costs for construction are still undetermined as the project remains in the Environmental Assessment (EA) phase.
The specific financial details and funding strategies for the project involve the following elements:
- Development Charges (DCs): Brantford historically utilizes the Transportation Development Charges Reserve Fund to cover studies and major capital expenditures. Because this route is a response to rapid population growth in West Brant (the Shellard Lane area) and industrial growth in the northwest, the city expects the primary financial burden to be covered by growth-related DCs rather than existing municipal tax levies. A recent city report indicates that up to 96% of the approved project could be funded by development charges.
- Cost Estimates: The overall four-kilometre extension, which will include a bridge crossing the Grand River, is an estimated $100 million to $119 million infrastructure project. Up-to-date construction budgets and long-term maintenance costs will be finalized as the EA reaches its detailed design stages.
- Environmental Assessment (EA) Costs: The ongoing planning and EA studies themselves cost just under $1 million. The city re-allocated funds from the DC Reserve to push these planning phases forward. Currently the project is undergoing a Schedule C Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (EA), recently completing a study of alternate road alignments south of the new bridge.
- Grant Funding: As with most major municipal infrastructure in Ontario, the city is heavily relying on securing senior level government grants (provincial and federal) to offset the burden on local taxpayers. It will be up to the new mayor and council to push this initiative and secure those funds as well.
Because the project is still undergoing active environmental and route evaluation, a finalized funding split between municipal DCs, the County of Brant (due to regional connectivity), and potential upper-tier government contributions has not been officially finalized for the construction phase.
The big take away here is that as companies move into the new industrial growth areas north of the Oak Park Industrial area, those companies will pay development charges that will go directly into paying for this project rather than leaving the burden to our residential property taxes. Nobody wants to pay more property taxes and with more industries coming to Brantford, we will see an increase in more jobs. Which we want and need! Therefore, more jobs require more employees/residents and more residents means more infrastructure growth…which includes a New Hospital!!
The connection here is real and certainly needs to be a talking point!
