The County of Prince Edward is considering returning some surface-treated roads to gravel in 2024 and beyond as part of a pilot project to provide smoother driving surfaces on some rural roads in the worst condition.
During the 2024 budget deliberations, County Council directed staff to prepare a report on candidate roads for returning to gravel. Council also asked staff to identify the implications this change would have on the 2025 operating and capital budgets, as well as the municipality’s asset management plan.
Municipal staff have identified several roads as possible candidates for returning to gravel at some point in the future. The preliminary criteria used includes traffic volume, the type of traffic on the road, the number of driveways, and the maintenance requirements.
The following roads are being considered to return to gravel until future reconstruction:
- Salem Road (County Road 2 to Cunningham Road)
- Weese Road (County Road 3 to Pulver Road)
- Carnrike Road (Link Road to Lakeside Drive)
These roads are being considered to permanently return to gravel:
- Carnrike Road (Salem Road to Link Road)
- Wild Oak Lane (entire length)
- Brewers Road (Royal Road to Hilltop Road)
- Lighthall Road (County Road 24 to Royal Road)
- Morgan Road (entire length)
- Station Road (County Road 1 to end of surface treatment past Civic Address 654)
- George’s Road (entire length)
The municipality maintains more than 1,100 kilometres of roads, with 40% of the municipal budget dedicated to roads each year. While some roads see improvement each year, there are many other municipal roads that are deteriorating faster than the available resources to maintain them.
The goal of this pilot project is to improve the road surfaces and realize cost savings over the long term. Returning some roads to gravel will also allow staff to dedicate more time to maintaining other roads that cannot be returned to gravel.
