THUNDER BAY -- Trevor Giertuga has been fighting for more than 15 years on an issue that was resolved in a meeting that lasted less than 30 minutes.
The long-time McIntyre councillor has been bringing up the idea of having rural roads chip sealed, one of the biggest issues in his ward, for more than a decade. Residents have come to council asking that the roads be hard-surfaced for pedestrian safety and protection of vehicles and property as gravel could fly up from the wheels of passing vehicles.
On Monday night another report headed to council outlining the cost and feasibility of surfacing rural roads in Giertuga's ward.
He asked that $150,000 be set aside in next year's budget, one-tenth of one per cent of the capital budget he said, so that two kilometres of roads somewhere in his ward can be surfaced next year. On roads that used to only have a handful of houses, there are now 50.
Demands and volumes have changed in the area over the years and the city needs to start chipping away at its gravel roads he said.
Council agreed unanimously.
"I feel like I'm going to be able to retire now," he joked after the meeting, which wrapped up before 7 p.m.
"I'm really happy that council had the foresight to look into the future and see that this is something we needed to do for our residents."
It will be up to administration to decide which roads to start surfacing. Giertuga is hoping that its the start of chip-sealing bit by bit every year in the city's rural areas.
