Budget wants

Some residents say that Thunder Bay city council should take more time to discuss road repairs as they review the proposed 2011 budget.

City council took its first look at the proposed budget last week. The proposed tax-supported operating budget is slightly less than $200.7 million.

Coun. Linda Rydholm commented on Thursday that this year’s budget didn’t include enough money for the city’s transportation infrastructure. Although the municipal engineering department reports the city spends $10 million a year on road resurfacing, the 2011 budget recommends $5.8 million, Rydholm said.

"More money should be spent in road resurfacing," she said. " We cannot ignore our roads any longer. The road bed is damaged faster when we don’t keep up with the good maintenance and new asphalt."

Some residents that spoke with Tbnewswatch.com on Saturday agreed that more money should go towards road repair.

Mike Clark, a night auditor at a Best Western hotel, has lived in Thunder Bay all his life. He said the poor road conditions often forced him to bring his car in for repairs.

He had to bring his car in to repair his suspension about two years ago and would have to bring his car in again soon for the same repair, he said.

"The roads in town are pretty bad," Clark said. "They need to be resurfaced. I had to replace the suspension on my car a couple of times because the roads in this city are that bad. "

Kevin, who refused to give his last name, said council needed to do something about the roads. He remembered one time when he drove down Shuniah Street hit a pothole and had to replace his tire. While the city has since fixed that specific pothole, city roads are consistently bad, he said.

"The roads are terrible and there are potholes everywhere," Kevin said.

But roads weren’t the only concern residents had.

Brian Roy, who works for Thunder Bay Transit, said the city needed to look at improving transportation services particularly extending bus services between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Fewer people rode the bus during those hours but Roy said ridership has increased in the last few years to the point where buses should have those extended services.

"I work between those hours and there are not enough buses to keep the people" happy, he said. ‘They’re always late."

Council will hold its first public budget discussion during a special open session on Tuesday night at city hall.