Sometimes you have to accentuate the positive, especially when the rubber (and the construction equipment) is finally going to hit the road.
The news that people driving to and from Picton have wanted for many years finally arrived yesterday, with the province stepping up to fund the rest of the money needed to fully rehabilitate several kilometres of County Road 49.
Immediately, many people reacted online with joy, but some chose to be less optimistic.
Some complained about a lack of federal funding for the project, others pointed out that this has taken way too long to get to this point, with others reminding us that the municipality still has to kick in about 8 million dollars which is 8 million more than they would have if it were still under full provincial control as Highway 49 instead of County Road 49 (before it was downloaded).
More questions are also being asked by some about potential cost overruns, or construction delays, but for now (just for now) let’s focus on the positive.
I have been talking with Mayors and Councillors in PEC about County Road 49 needing to be fixed almost back to the last millennium.
Thousands of vehicles use it every day. The drivers of those vehicles, especially those who live outside the area and even out of province, don’t care about the history, or the “behind the scenes drama”.
They just want to get from the Skyway Bridge to Picton and back without severe damage to their car. By the end of next year, that dream will finally be a reality, and that is (long overdue) good news indeed!
I’m Paul Martin and that’s what I see looking Beyond the Headlines.
