Blake Ellis/The Independent

There will be no special treatment for a pot-hole filled section of Petrolia Line.

Brooke-Alvinston will hire an engineer to assess all of the paved rural roads in the municipality to create a five-year capital plan.

Councillor Craig Sanders first raised the issue saying some sections of Petrolia Line were dangerous. Council asked staff to give an idea what it would cost to fix. Staff suggested a full study was needed. An engineer has now suggested the municipality needs to look at more than just Petrolia Line.

The amount of road to be assessed is approximately 29 kilometres and will exclude Shiloh and Churchill Lines.

Shiloh Line was reconstructed in 2021 and Churchill Line is being reconstructed jointly with the Township of Warwick. Funds have already been earmarked in future budgets.

While that overall roads-need study will cost $16,000, another engineering study will be conducted on Rokeby Line to assess three sections that stretch from Inwood Road to Ebenezer Road.

Brooke-Alvinston’s Public Works Superintendent Jamie Butler said in his report to council the repairs on Rokeby Line will not be a simple surface patch. The sub base has been compromised and require a full depth reconstruction.

This engineering work for both studies will cost a total of $81,000. Both of these projects were not anticipated when the 2026 budget was passed.

Savings of $30,000 has been identified in the concrete crushing tender. “So we are looking to pick up
$50,000 from somewhere,” said Mayor David Ferguson.

“But this will give you a five-year plan and let the on-going councils look at it and know what it is going to cost for the roads.”

“We got to do it. We got to do something,” said Sanders.

Ferguson said having the five-year study would be helpful if any grants became available.

When Deputy Mayor Frank Nemcek asked about what could be done with Petrolia Line, Ferguson replied,

“Until you get some engineering done with it, you don’t know what you are going to do with it. This is the first step.”

Council passed a motion to bypass normal tendering channels to allow Black Creek Engineering to conduct both engineering studies at a total cost of $81,000.

The municipalities will try to identify more savings among work completed this year.

If there are no savings to be found, the municipality will have to take the money needed from reserves.