There are a lot of rough sections of road in the Town of Hawkesbury. The Town of Hawkesbury has a plan it must follow to fix them.
Mayor Robert Lefebvre acknowledges there are rough streets in town but emphasized there are policies and practices associated with road construction that the town has to follow. He said that during the past year, the town has been investigating its infrastructure needs.
Underneath most of Hawkesbury’s streets, there are also water mains, sewers, gas mains, and in some areas, electrical cables. Lefebvre said repaving should be done when the underground infrastructure also requires replacement.
“We have to avoid digging up a road the following year after paving it,” Lefebvre said.
Road improvement needs are part of the priorities set out in the town’s asset management plan. Lefebvre said the town must follow the priorities and policies set out in the asset management plan in order to be eligible for provincial or federal grants to assist with road improvement projects. When the town applies for grants, it must prove that the need for the grant is in accordance with the asset management plan, otherwise, the grant application is likely to be rejected.
“If you can’t defend it, then you might as well forget it,” Lefebvre said.
The Town of Hawkesbury’s current asset management plan was adopted in 2024. The plan identified that an average of $9.9 million was needed annually to fulfill all of the currently required capital projects, which include roads. However, only $3.1 million for capital expenditures for all municipal departments was allocated in 2024, leaving a funding gap of $6.8 million.
In 2025, the total capital budget for the town is $2,675,890 and $1,290,000 is for road projects. The road projects scheduled to take place in Hawkesbury this year are the rehabilitation of the very deteriorated Cécile Bridge on Main Street West at a cost of $2,500,000, and the rehabilitation of Catherine Street between Lansdowne and Sinclair streets at a cost of $750,000. In 2025, design phase work costing $250,000 will be done for planned reconstruction of Main Street West, along with $40,000 in design work for a planned rehabilitation project on Tessier Street.
Submitted photos
