The Corporation of the City of Kawartha Lakes

Minutes

Roads Task Force Meeting

RT2025-02
-
Council Chambers
City Hall
26 Francis Street, Lindsay, Ontario K9V 5R8
Members:
  • Councillor Mike Perry
  • Councillor Pat Warren
  • Mayor Doug Elmslie
Accessible formats and communication supports are available upon request. The City of Kawartha Lakes is committed to accessibility for persons with disabilities. Please contact [email protected] if you have an accessible accommodation request.

1.
Call to Order

 

Chair M. Perry called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. Roads Task Force members P. Warren and D. Elmslie were in attendance. Director of Public Works B. Robinson, Director of Engineering J. Rojas, Manager of Technical Services M. Farquhar, and Executive Assistant to Mayor and Council C. Ellison were also in attendance in Council Chambers. 

Absent: R. Ashmore

2.
Administrative Business

 

2.1
Adoption of Agenda

 
  • RT2025-05
    Moved ByMayor Elmslie
    Seconded ByCouncillor Warren

    That the Agenda for the Roads Task Force Meeting of February 11, 2025 be adopted as circulated with the following amendment:

    4.1 Case Study - Chambers Road - Gravel Portion be moved to the end of the agenda.

    Carried

2.2
Declaration of Pecuniary Interest

 

There were no declarations of pecuniary interest disclosed.

2.3
Adoption of Minutes from Previous Meeting

This item has attachments. 
1.01072025 Roads Task Force Minutes-1.pdf
  • RT2025-06
    Moved ByCouncillor Warren
    Seconded ByMayor Elmslie

    That the Minutes of the Roads Task Force Meeting of Tuesday, January 7, 2024, be received and adopted.

    Carried

3.
Deputations

 

There were no deputations.

4.
Deferred Business

 

4.1
RT2025-02.4.1

 

Case Study - Chambers Road - Gravel Portion
Councillor Perry

Director Rojas outlines the four ways a gravel road could become a hard top road: 1) by reaching a traffic threshold through the Capital program in Engineering. Historically this has been 400 AADT (Annual Average Daily Traffic), but Council relaxed this number to 200. When this happened 63 roads were identified as meeting the new threshold and about 1/3 were upgraded due to that change before the program was paused. Currently, the gravel portion of Chambers Road does not meet this lowered threshold. 2) A gravel road could be upgraded through maintenance concern, if the surrounding roads are hardtop, upgrading others within that area would be more efficient for maintenance. Chambers Road does not fit that criteria. 3) Through Local Improvement a gravel road may be taken on by the local community if high value assets are present and they go through the process with the municipality, where the City may fund a portion of the cost. It is questionable whether the community would be willing to take on this project. 4) Council could direct staff against staff recommendations to upgrade the road. He also noted that there are other improvements (e.g. ditching) that do not typically go along with the gravel road improvement program, which may make them more likely to need patching and other maintenance. It was also noted that there are roads that were hard-topped by the former municipalities that would not meet the thresholds set today, but the City would not change those as it would lower the Level of Service. Re-sealing hard-topped roads also seems to be effective for extending the lifecycle of those roads.

5.
New Business

 

5.1
RT2025-02.5.1

 

Winter Maintenance Public Engagement
Councillor Perry

Councillor Perry expressed a desire to hold a public meeting where information regarding winter operations could be presented to residents, just as it was to the Task Force. Director Robinson noted that all the information presented can be found on the website, but offered to present it to Council and have it recorded in order to provide a more current version of the video than is on the website. Mayor Elmslie noted that the winter season is quickly running out and attention will soon turn to flood control rather than winter control efforts. He suggested rather than present something now, it may be better to present the information at the beginning of the next winter season when the Task Force will be winding down. Councillor Perry also requested a more 'digestible' format to present information to residents, rather than what is currently available on the website - perhaps a one-pager that provides quick and easy information specific to winter control. 

  • RT2025-07
    Moved ByMayor Elmslie
    Seconded ByCouncillor Warren

    That a request is made to Communications and Public Works to produce a one-page document regarding winter control operations for easy public consumption by end of February or early March.

    Carried

5.2
RT2025-02.5.2

 

Salt Management
Councillor Warren

Councillor Warren spoke about the need to update the Salt Management Plan as the current one is from 2016. Concerns were also raised about the amount of salt used near shorelines that might affect water quality. Director Robinson noted that updating the Salt Management Plan is in their work plan and commented that it is not possible to change the amount of salt used in specific areas, and doing so would reduce the Level of Service - something that cannot be accommodated. There are controls in the trucks that disperse a pre-set amount of salt and these are not changeable. He also noted that where most bodies of water are, the nearby roads are largely tar and chip or gravel, which do not receive salt, or very little (5%); salt is only applied to asphalt roads.

5.3
RT2025-02.5.3

 

Downloaded Highways
Councillor Warren

Councillor Warren inquired whether there is an opportunity to upload back to the province some or any of the downloaded highways, in particular Highway 121. Mayor Elmslie noted that this topic was brought up at ROMA with the Ministry of Transportation regarding the Gardiner and the Don Valley highways. The comments received there suggested that the province would not be willing to explore any further uploads. It was noted that even if the province was willing to entertain the possibility, Highway 121 may not be the best candidate, as it would make it more difficult to provide services in the downtown cores where it passes through. This is already an issue with Highway 35 as the City loses control of setbacks and connecting links would need to be established in order to relax those.

6.
Case Studies

 

No other case studies.

7.
Other Business

 

No other business.

8.
Adjournment

 
  • RT2025-08
    Moved ByMayor Elmslie
    Seconded ByCouncillor Warren

    That the Meeting adjourn at 2:01 p.m.

    Carried
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