New rural roads program coming, province promises after municipalities demand funding be put back on track

A new funding program is coming to help pay for rural roads and bridges in Manitoba, the province says, after municipalities came together in a record number to criticize the cancellation ofan earlier incarnation of the program.

Jeff Wharton, the province's minister for municipal relations, told municipal officials on Tuesday the government is working on a replacement for the municipal road and bridge program fund.

"We're a government that listens, so we're prepared to continue to have those discussions to make sure we get it right for them," he told reportersat the Manitoba Legislature Tuesday.

In 2017, the fund divvied up $14 million for rural infrastructure needs, which municipalities themselves matched.

But when the program was suddenly cancelled this summer so it could be rolled into the federal Investing in Canada infrastructure program, the province replaced it with$2.25 million in funding.

Municipalities scrambling

The unexpected drop came in the midst of summer construction season, and it left municipalities in a lurch to cover the bills they expected the province to cover.

Chris Goertzen, outgoing president of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities, said municipalities thought the initial program was effective.

"It was efficient, it had very little red tape and it got a lot of projects done in municipalities."

So much so, a record 102 municipalities co-sponsored a resolution at this week's AMM convention calling on the provincial government to reinstate the program.

Goertzen said the federal program's requirements are onerous and the funding less predictable.

"Municipalities certainly do see this as a cut in dollars flowing to them," he said. "We want to see the Investing in Canada plan move forward, but we also want to see dollars allocated specifically for municipal roads and bridges."

Wharton said the province rolled funding into the federal program in order to leverage Ottawa's contribution.

"With the provincial spend, we're looking at over $2 billion dollars in investment over the next 10 years," he said.

"Municipalities understand [that]they need to build capacity. We need to build capacity to leverage those dollars from the federal government as we go forward."

Wharton expects the new provincial program to be unveiled in early 2019.