A section of Highway 21 in Saugeen Shores is going to get a little wider.
Town Director of Engineering Services Dave Burnside says they’ve received 611 thousand dollars from the Ontario government in Connecting Link funding to widen Goderich Street — or Highway 21 — to four lanes from Tomlinson Drive to Concession 10 between Port Elgin and Southampton.
The provincial money will cover 90 percent of the over 700 thousand dollar cost, the town will have to pay for the rest.
Burnside isn’t sure how fast the work will start because the funding has arrived late this year and design work is still taking place.
He says the province originally said the money has to be spent by February 1, 2010, but hopes they change the timetable because the funding was so late arriving this year.
Burnside says each year the Ministry of Transportation asks the municipalities for their Connecting Link project priorities, and extending the four lanes is Saugeen Shores’ biggest priority at this time.
Provincial highway routes through towns are municipally-owned and maintained, but the Ministry of Transportation has Connecting Link agreements for whenever upgrades are needed.