Dryden Mayor Craig Nuttall says leftover provincial funding from the recent restoration of the Duke St. overpass bridge could be used to great benefit on the rest of the street.

In fact, Nuttall says he’s not yet prepared to sign over some $600,000 in unused funding without making a political effort to retain the funds for other Duke St. projects. He adds it is not unheard of for other municipalities to hold onto leftover project funds.

“I think we’re being penalized for managing our money well,” said Nuttall. “Understand, we’re not spending any more money — just the rest of that which was allotted to us. I’ve informed the government that I’m not interested in signing the cheque to send it back.”

The Duke St. Overpass bridge was replaced over the summer of 2010 with provincial Connecting Link funding totaling $2.1 million. The City of Dryden’s Blake Poole says tenders for the job came in less expensive than anticipated, resulting in a project that was completed over half a million dollars under budget.

The Duke St. corridor qualifies for provincial funding where most city streets do not because it serves to connect the Trans-Canada highway to Hwy. 594.

Nuttall says he hopes the funds could help address chronic water main problems on West Duke St., problems that residents and local businesses have recently registered concerns over.

Director of engineering for the City of Dryden, Mike Louttit says his department is frustrated by the persistant problems with underground infrastructure on west Duke St. and have yet to determine the cause.

Louttit adds that if Connecting Link funds could somehow be diverted to other projects on the Duke St. corridor, that those funds could only be used to repair the road surface. Repairs to water or sewer infrastructure would require funding from city coffers.

By Chris Marchand