During a visit to Ottawa on Thursday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford annoiunced plans for the provincial government to provide Ottawa with $543 million over the next 10 years for housing, transportation, public safety and other areas.

Entitled "A New Deal for Ottawa", the package includes a three-step plan to upload the Hwy. 174 to the province, and provides up to $3 million a year for maintenance costs over the next three years and a capped capital contribution up to a maximum of $47M over the same period.

Highway 174 and the maintenance costs associated with it were downloaded by the provincial government along with a number of other sections of local highways in Ontario in the 1990s. In exchange the provincial government of the day uploaded the cost of public education.

News of the Ford government's plans to take back responsibility for Hwy. 174 were cheered loudly by the east end's local city councillors.

"Today is a good day for us here in Orléans East - Cumberland. This is something that we have been asking for for a very long time," says Orléans East - Cumberland councillor Matt Luloff. "The 174 is used, in great part, by commuters coming in from outside of our city. This decision just makes sense and will free up transportation funding to allow us to better care for our other infrastructure in the east end."

"Today marks an absolutely historical agreement for the City of Ottawa," says Orléans West - Innes councillor Laura Dudas. "This past year, when the Ontario Government announced that it was uploading the Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto (roadways that, unlike the 174, were always Toronto’s), they defended the deal as freeing up over a billion municipal dollars for other Toronto municipal services. Ottawa deserved the same, and I am beyond ecstatic to see that after 26 years, and following nearly annual requests from the City, the 174 is finally returning the province."

"East end representatives, myself included, have been calling on the 174 to be uploaded for years," says Orléans South - Navan councillor Catherine Kitts. "I want to commend Mayor Sutcliffe for negotiating this deal for Ottawa. There is no reason that this road that operates like a highway should be a municipal responsibility. Every dollar spent on Ottawa by the province frees up property tax dollars to be spent on your priorities."

Elsewhere in the "New Deal for Ottawa" the province will provide...

- Up to $120 million for shelters and homelessness supports.
- Up to $48 million to address community and public safety, including increasing uniformed police officers in the ByWard Market and on the transit system in addition to alternative mental health supports.
- Up to $20 million to fuel economic recovery and downtown revitalization efforts, including dedicated support to Invest Ottawa to continue attracting investments that create good jobs.
- Up to $181 million for various transportation priorities to support the city in building for economic growth, recovery and renewal of major connecting routes that support the movement of people, goods and services throughout the region. These supports include funding for the design and construction of a new interchange at Highway 416 and Barnsdale Road, advancing the Kanata North Transitway, and repairing and upgrading rural roads and related infrastructure outside of Ottawa’s city centre.

There is one potential catch, however, the city must come up with an acceptable plan to use the funds. For instance, $48 million earmarked to improve public safety both downtown and on transit is continent on the city developing a plan to do just that.

Other aspects of plan are contingent on the federal government contributing up to $493 million in matching funds. For instance, the $80 million earmarked for the future Kanata North Transitway is contingent on matching funds from both the federal government and the city. If the federal government doesn't come up with matching funds by next spring, the province's $80 million would go toward other transportation projects.

For a full breakdown on the "New Deal for Ottawa" visit https://news.ontario.ca/en/ release/1004362/a-new-deal-for-ottawa.