Sudbury receiving $3.8M for transit infrastructure projects

The City of Greater Sudbury is receiving $3.8 million from the federal government for nine transit infrastructure projects.

Nickel Belt MP Marc Serré and Sudbury MP Paul Lefebvre made the announcement Tuesday at the Greater Sudbury Transit and Fleet Centre. Sudbury is one of five Ontario cities to be the first recipients of funding through the Public Infrastructure Fund.

"I'm feeling very privileged to be amongst the City of Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo, Barrie and Ottawa," Sudbury mayor Brian Bigger said.

Lefebvre said the money is the result of a new agreement between the federal and provincial government.

"[The federal government is] providing 50 cents on the dollar," he said.

"So we're providing $3.8 [million] and the city needs to match the other $3.8 [million]."

Bigger said the city will find that money within the existing capital budget.

Reviewing the transit system

The money will go towards a number of transit infrastructure projects, including four 30-foot buses, improvements to the downtown transit terminal, work on transit shelters and a transit optimization study.

Serré said it's important for Sudbury residents to provide feedback on that study.

"I'm calling on residents of the entire area to provide the feedback to your city councillor," he said.

"All the councillors want to hear from residents … on how to improve things. You can complain all you want, but at the end of the day, we have to find a solution."

Bigger said a formal process to gather feedback, including meetings, to allow residents to provide input.