Sault Mayor Christian Provenzano reacts to funding announced at City Hall Wednesday by Sault MP Bryan Hayes and Sault MPP David Orazietti for the Fort Creek Aqueduct Replacement Project.

A major funding announcement at City Hall on Thursday. Sault Mayor Christian Provenzano was joined by Sault MPP David Orazietti and Sault MP Bryan Hayes for 10.4 million dollars each for the provincial and federal governments to replace the Fort Creek Aqueduct. The municipal portion has been supported by putting 2 million dollars annually for the infrastructure project, that is expected to take 7 to 8 years to complete. City Director of Engineering Services Don Elliott says the project will protect the city better from flooding when completed…

Work is currently being done on Phase 2 of the project. The overall project is being done in seven phases — south from Queen Street and along John Street and Wellington Street north to Carmen’s Way. The federal portion is coming from money out of the billion dollar Small Communities Fund, while the provincial portion is part of the largest investment in infrastructure in Ontario’s history — 130 billion dollars over 10 years. Elliott talks about how the construction work will not impact the current aqueduct…

In welcoming the funding news, Sault Mayor Christian Provenzano echoed that sentiment from the area Hayes and Orazietti — that this is a major infrastructure project that will benefit the community. Provenzano also credited the city’s Engineering Department for its work on the project so far…

The replacement project will include full demolition, reconstruction, and reinforcement of channels to contain and control flood waters when flows are high in the aqueduct. The aqueduct is part of the Fort Creek Dam and Reservoir Project that was done more than 40 years ago to prevent flooding when the creek overflowed its banks.