Roads & Infrastructure

The Situation

The Township of North Frontenac maintains 339 kilometres of roads — 181 km hard-surface and 158 km gravel. This is a massive network for a municipality with a small permanent population and a limited tax base. The Public Works Department does dedicated work, but faces growing pressure from aging infrastructure, harsh Shield winters, and deferred maintenance that compounds over time.

Many residents — particularly those on gravel roads — feel that repairs are slow, priorities are unclear, and their concerns don't get heard. Potholes that have existed for years. Culverts that should have been replaced a decade ago. Roads that wash out predictably every spring with no long-term fix in sight.

Meanwhile, residents have no easy way to see which roads are scheduled for repair, what criteria are used to prioritize work, or how the annual roads budget is allocated across wards.

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Art's Position

Roads are the most basic municipal service. In a rural township that spans hundreds of square kilometres, they are the lifeline connecting residents to school, work, medical care, and community. Getting roads right is not optional — it is the core job of municipal government.

I believe road repair priorities should be based on objective criteria — safety risk, condition rating, usage levels, cost-effectiveness — not on who complains the loudest or which ward has more political weight. And I believe residents should be able to see that process clearly.

As Mayor, I will not micro-manage Public Works staff, who are the professionals. But I will ensure that the council sets a clear, transparent framework for how decisions get made, and that the community can hold us accountable to it.

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Specific Commitments

• Commission and publish a current Road Condition Assessment within the first year — a public document showing the state of every road in the township, using plain-language ratings.
• Establish a transparent, needs-based Roads Priority Framework so residents can see and understand how repair decisions are made, and challenge them through proper process.
• Create an online Roads Repair Tracker — a simple public map showing scheduled work, completed work, and estimated timelines. Updated quarterly.
• Conduct an annual Roads Budget Review in an open public session before council votes on the budget — so residents can comment on priorities before they're set.
• Actively pursue provincial and federal infrastructure grants for major road and bridge capital projects, with a dedicated staff resource to track and apply for available funding.
• Review the current Level of Service Policy with input from residents across all three wards to ensure minimum standards reflect actual community needs.