The Ontario government is investing $5,253,000 in critical infrastructure to enable construction of up to 238 new homes in Sault Ste. Marie under the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program.
Sault MPP Ross Romano made the announcement on Monday morning at the Ronald A. Irwin Civic Centre.
The City of Sault Ste. Marie will use the funding to extend Sackville Road from Mary Avenue to Third Line East, unlocking more housing opportunities for the community.
"These funds are going to create needed infrastructure for Sault Ste. Marie. In addition to creating access for new homes to be built, it's also going to relieve pressure off the Great Northern Road corridor and help with traffic congestion,” Romano said.
The Sackville Road extension will also add a connection to the Hub Trail.
The project is one that Romano has wanted to see since his days as a city councillor, when it was discussed in municipal budget deliberations in 2015.
“It's very good news; it's something that we've known we needed for a very, very long time. Obviously restrictions on budgets make it very hard and we knew that at the municipal level we needed to find ways to try to keep more money in people's pockets.
"And it was important for us to do that. And we also equally knew how important this investment is in our community and how critical infrastructure like this is to allow people to get to work faster, allowing them to get to the grocery store, get to the soccer field. These are important investments. I'm very, very grateful that our government has seen fit to fund the Sackville Road Extension project,” Romano said.
“We are here celebrating a municipal project that's been deferred a number of times by municipal councils of the past,” said Sault Mayor Matthew Shoemaker at Monday’s announcement.
Shoemaker said the Sackville Road extension is vital, although he admitted it has been deferred several times over the last decade.
“The funding provided by the province helps us make sure that we can get these projects done and get them done within budget.
"Once completed, it will provide advantages including the addressing of traffic congestion at Great Northern Road and Second Line, which is the busiest intersection in our city. And it will unlock the opportunity for 238 new residential units.”
Shoemaker told reporters that the Sackville Road extension will be a “two to three year project but it'll start in the summer of 2025.”
It is not yet known what type of housing will be eventually built in the area.
“It'll ultimately be up to the developer to propose something. I believe the land is already on our official plan designated as residential . . . what the 200 units could be depends on the developer who wishes to develop that property,” Shoemaker said.