It’s the announcement that residents of Prince Edward County have been waiting for.
At the Prince Edward County Roads Department in Picton on Monday, Ontario announced that it would be funding the rehabilitation of County Road 49.
Hastings—Lennox and Addington MPP and the
The total investment from the province is upwards of $45 million, with the total cost of the project estimated at a little over $52 million.
Prince Edward County has already invested $8 million into the project.
Ontario is increasing its initial investment of $20 million.
“Relief,” Ferguson told Quinte News after being asked for his reaction to the funding.
“It’s now behind us instead of in front of us … there’s a lot of stuff going on in the county. So why wouldn’t we advocate for it and we advocated very strongly at the provincial and federal levels to secure this funding. Why wouldn’t we do that? Because it affects our economy if it remains as it is. So I’m just glad it’s done.”
In announcing the funding to the crowd, MPP Bresee described how the project will move forward.
“This project will include repaving road surface, new culverts, guard rail improvements, and ultimately supporting the safe movement of people and goods across this area, and keeping thousands of workers on the job here in southeastern Ontario every year,” Bresee said in his announcement.
“Today we’re marking this milestone for Picton, for Prince Edward County, and for drivers all across eastern Ontario. I’m very happy to see this day come to fruition”
Prince Edward County Mayor Steve Ferguson (centre) with Hastings—Lennox and Addington MPP and the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Transportation Ric Bresee (left) and Bay of Quinte MPP Tyler Allsopp (Right) announcing the province will fund the rehabilitation of County Road 49. March 19, 2026. (Photo: Zach McGibbon/Quinte News)
There is no federal funding coming for County Road 49.
Work had been undertaken to try and secure a trilateral agreement of municipal, provincial and federal funding for the project but ultimately did not come to fruition.
In a statement to media, Bay of Quinte MP Chris Malette says that he is happy to see a resolution to the County Road 49 funding project.
“I was proud to help facilitate a meeting between Mayor Ferguson, Interim CAO Adam Goheen and senior officials with Transport Canada to advance this important project and ensure it remained a priority,” Malette said in the statement.
“Today’s announcement is a significant step forward for the county, and I look forward to seeing this project move ahead.”
Speaking with Quinte News after the announcement, MPP Allsopp said discussions with the federal government on the project had been ongoing.
“As it became clear that we weren’t going to get to a trilateral agreement, we wanted to make sure that this project did get done, because of all the things that we mentioned about how important it is to the community, to economic development, to tourism, to so many different factors,” Allsopp told Quinte News.
“It had to happen, and we realized that we needed to step up and get it done, and we have.”
When asked by Quinte News if it was indicated by the federal government that there was no federal money coming, Allsopp said that was the case.
Despite no federal contribution, Mayor Ferguson said he still appreciated Malette’s efforts in advocating for Prince Edward County.
“The fact that that they’re not participating is a disappointment, but there are plenty of other things that I hope they will be participating in that are needs in Prince Edward County,” Ferguson said,
“It took a long time to get the province to get to this point, and I told Chris, your time will come.”
County Road 49 near the intersection of Fish Lake Road. (Photo: Zach McGibbon/Quinte News)
County Road 49, which spans 18.4 kilometres, of which 17.3 kilometres is concrete pavement, has notoriously been named one of the worst roads in Ontario by CAA (Canadian Automobile Association) for multiple years.
The municipality is anticipating it will issue a tender for the rehabilitation project in the coming days.
“All the studies are done. They’ve been done for a while. We know what’s involved. We basically figured out the phasing,” Ferguson tells Quinte News.
“But in an ideal world, tenders will go out, we’ll get a response to them in a month, I don’t know, come to council for approval, and then off we go.”
Work is expected to take place over two construction seasons in 2026 and 2027.
