The first step towards future reconstruction of Vankleek Hill’s Main Street will be part of next year’s capital budget plan review.
Champlain Township council gave the green light to a recommendation from Public Works Director Maxime Lafrance to include funding in the 2026 draft budget plan for a design assignment to assess what is needed for future reconstruction of Main Street in the Village of Vankleek Hill.
Main Street is also known as County 10 Road and is an important link in the United Counties of Prescott and Russell’s (UCPR) regional road network. It intersects with Highway 34 in the centre of Vankleek Hill and provides key connections to other primary roads in Prescott County. In a six-page report to council at its November 27 session, Lafrance noted that the township and the UCPR “continue to receive resident complaints about the poor state of the Vankleek Hill Main Street.”
The report noted that a recent UCPR assessment of the street’s paving rates it in overall “poor condition” with some segments of paving ranging in age from 16 years to 30 years old.
Lafrance’s report also noted that the Main Street storm sewer system is undersized and cannot provide adequate drainage for the surrounding business and residential neighbhourhoods. There is also some concern about the age and condition of the water mains below the street’s surface.
The report noted that the Main Street sanitary sewer system section may need either reconditioning or expansion because of current and future development in the neighbourhood. The street’s sidewalks also do not meet the new provincial accessibility standards.
The township and the UCPR will partner on a design assignment plan for future reconstruction of Main Street. The plan will make sure the municipality and the UCPR have a “shovel ready” proposal for the Main Street reconstruction project when senior government infrastructure support grants become available.
“Experience from both Champlain Township and the UCPR is that if a project is construction tender ready,” stated the report, “it is more likely to obtain funding from higher levels of government.”
The focus of the design assignment plan would be the 1.8-kilometre section of Main Street from the Terry Fox Drive intersection to a point about 450 metres west of the Pendleton Street intersection. Future reconstruction work would deal with paving, sidewalks, street parking planning, new watermains and storm sewers, and new or reconditioned sanitary sewers.
Estimated total cost for the design assignment plan is $459,250. The UCPR would pay for about half of the costs with the design assignment, but not including any modelling work. The UCPR share would be $202,125 and is already in the UCPR’s current 2026 budget plan.
The township’s share, which includes modelling work, is $257,125. The design assignment funding just deals with design of the future Main Street reconstruction. The entire project, including actual construction, could cost between $4 million and $5 million. The design assignment will help further refine actual project estimates.
Township council voted approval for including $257,125 the municipality’s share of the Main Street design assignment in the public works portion of the 2026 preliminary municipal budget plan.
