On Thursday, June 26, Champlain Township council confirmed that Grout Street and Loch Street in Vankleek Hill will be repaved. Additionally, the 2025 budget for repaving Pendleton Street will be reduced to $40,000 to fund engineering design work instead of repaving.
Director of Public Works Maxime Lafrance explained that council chose to move forward with fixing the poor road quality on Grout and Loch, while delaying construction work on Pendleton until 2026 or 2027. This option allowed council to proceed with the longer-lasting solution for Pendleton Street, while ensuring Grout and Loch are paved.
Approximately 160 metres of Loch Street and 147 metres of Grout Street are scheduled for repaving in the near future.
Lafrance said that the initial repaving plan did not properly address drainage issues, lacked an integrated curb design, and assumed existing storm sewers could handle increased runoff, forcing staff to recommend other cost-saving alternatives.
Council then budgeted $40,000 for an engineering design for Pendleton Street to address these issues.
The original cost estimate for repaving 380 metres of Pendleton Street was $121,313. The revised plan, which includes repaving Grout and Loch and conducting an engineering study, totals $118,640. This resulted in savings of 2.2 per cent, or $2,673.
Grout Street will be repaved using $41,991 from the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund (OCIF), while Loch Street will be repaved using a combination of OCIF and Canada Community-Building Fund (CCBF) contributions, totalling $36,649.
The completed engineering design, which will include drainage, curb layout, and a road base assessment, will be presented to council at a future meeting.
Construction of Pendleton Street is expected to begin in 2026 and be completed in 2027.
Council unanimously approved the resolution with Councillor Gerry Miner absent.
