Ottawa council wants 174 uploaded back to province

Ottawa city council reaffirmed Wednesday it wants the province to take back control ofHighway 174, but municipal leaders outside the city are balking at talk of introducing a toll on the highway should it remain in the city's hands.

East-end city councillor Stephen Blais has been leading the cause to get Ontario to take back control of Hwy. 174, which was downloaded to Ottawa in the 1990s.

He said the downloading of the responsibilities of the road has been a financial burden to the city, one it has shouldered alone, though residents in outlying areas such as Clarence-Rockland make use of the highway. Last year the cost of maintenance to the highway was more than $10 million.

"It's not good enough that the City of Ottawa continues to be ignored," said Blais on Wednesday, after council reaffirmed its position that the province should take back the responsibility of the highway.

Blais said if the province says no to the city's request, the city wants permission to enact a regulation under the municipal act to give the city "the possibility of putting a toll in the future, if that's what we choose to do."

Rural leaders balk at toll

Rural municipal leaders meeting in L'Orignal, Ont., Wednesday morning welcomed a discussion of how to put more money into improving the 174.

Township of Champlain mayor Gary Barton said while the west endthoroughfares likeHwy. 7 and Hwy. 17 have widened to four lanes near Ottawa, the 174 and the east end has been chronically neglected.

But he and the mayors of other townships didn't mince words when expressing their dislike of Blais's toll idea.

"Give me a break! I cant believe he would even make that suggestion," said Barton.

Franois St-Amour, the mayor of La Nation Municipality, was even more blunt.

"Theres no way in hell were gonna send a cheque to Ottawa," said Franois St-Amour, the mayor of La Nation Municipality. "That was really clear. His position was not thought out."

"The only good point that I pointed out to him was 'Thank you for bringing this up and making it this obvious for the provincial politicians,'" said St-Amour.