Every year the City’s capital budget provides millions of dollars to resurface decayed concrete back lanes. In the 2021-24 multi-year budget for example, there is a list of lanes from pages 2-23. What many people do not understand is that there is no similar list for the resurfacing of gravel back lanes. The gravel “inventory” is only about 1/10 of the total network of back lanes, with St. Vital ward having twice as many gravel lanes as any other ward.
The City’s policy, since 1988, has been to add gravel only to “isolated , low-lying soft spots” in lanes. All of these decisions have been discussed and voted upon and I did not win the fight to get more funding for gravel.
What is not acceptable is for City staff to now incentivize lot-splits on these same gravel lanes, quadrupling traffic, with no plans to fix up the lanes. The City places all sorts of development limits on roads that are gravel or chip seal, but somehow pretend the surface type of your lane does not matter.