It doesn’t matter where you live or work in our corner of the Valley—chances are, Laurentian Valley infrastructure is part of your day.

Infrastructure Does Not Stop at the Township Line

It does not matter whether your mailbox says Laurentian Valley, Pembroke, Petawawa, or somewhere farther down the road. In our part of the Ottawa Valley, chances are a Laurentian Valley road—or another piece of Laurentian Valley infrastructure—is part of your regular day.

It might be the road you take to work. The route your child’s school bus follows. The connection that gets a farmer’s products to market. The culvert that carries spring runoff beneath the road instead of over it. Or the snowplow clearing a route before most of us have finished our first coffee.

Infrastructure is a bit like the furnace in January: when it is working properly, nobody throws it a parade. But when it stops working, everybody notices.

This is a much bigger system than most people realize

Laurentian Valley’s road network spans approximately 500 lane-kilometres. The Township’s 2024 Asset Management Plan estimates that its transportation assets would cost approximately $224.8 million to replace. The plan describes those assets as allowing people to travel both within and through the Township.

That last part matters: through the Township.

Our roads are not used only by people who receive a Laurentian Valley tax bill. They are used by workers, families, delivery drivers, emergency responders, tradespeople, farmers, visitors and businesses moving throughout the region.

Municipal boundaries may matter on a map, but they do not mean much when you are trying to get to work on time, bring your child to an appointment, make a delivery, or get home safely during a February storm.

Our infrastructure is part of a regional network

Laurentian Valley and the City of Pembroke are working together on an east–west Transportation Master Plan because traffic, development and growth do not stop at either municipality’s boundary. The study specifically considers growth in Laurentian Valley and Pembroke, as well as pressure coming from Petawawa, and examines how that growth may strain the existing road network.

That is why infrastructure decisions cannot be made one road, one subdivision or one municipality at a time.

A new development can affect traffic somewhere else. A closed culvert can push vehicles onto another rural route. A growing commercial area can change how an intersection operates. A project in Pembroke can affect commuters from Laurentian Valley, just as work on a Laurentian Valley road can affect people travelling from elsewhere in the Valley.

We are connected, whether the municipal maps admit it or not.

Knowing who owns the road is only the beginning

Not every road located within Laurentian Valley is maintained by the Township. Responsibility is shared among Laurentian Valley Public Works, the County of Renfrew and the Ministry of Transportation.

That is an important distinction—but residents should not need a municipal law degree and three different phone numbers just to find out who is responsible for a problem.

Good representation means knowing which level of government is responsible, contacting the right people, following the issue, and reporting back clearly. “That is not our road” might explain the jurisdiction, but it should not be the end of the conversation.

There are no cheap shortcuts

It would be easy during an election to promise that every rough road will be rebuilt immediately.

It would also be dishonest.

The Township’s published 2026 budget materials demonstrate how quickly infrastructure costs add up. The road-project summary identified approximately 8.95 kilometres of work at an estimated cost of $1.65 million before HST, along with $120,000 for the annual replacement of failing crossroad culverts. Individual projects combine paving with work such as ditching, base repairs, shoulders, drainage improvements and culvert replacement.

That is why a road cannot be judged only by the condition of the asphalt we see through the windshield.

A fresh surface will not solve a failing base. A patch will not correct poor drainage. New pavement will not last as intended if the culverts underneath it are already nearing failure.

Sometimes the less visible work is the part that protects the entire investment.

My approach: plan before the problem becomes an emergency

I am not running with a magic paving wand, and a councillor is not a one-person public works department. A councillor is one vote on a seven-member Council. My responsibility would be to arrive prepared, ask the right questions and help Council make defensible decisions with the information available.

I will advocate for a transparent, multi-year capital plan that residents can understand and follow. Projects should be prioritized using evidence: the condition of the asset, safety risk, traffic and service demand, the consequences of delaying work, and the total cost over the asset’s life.

I will also push to have roads, drainage, culverts, development and emergency access considered together—not treated as unrelated items that happen to share the same map.

When major work is approved, residents should be able to find out:

What are we fixing? Why is it a priority? What will it cost? When should it be completed? Did it finish on time and on budget?

Those are not unreasonable questions. They are the basic questions that should come with spending public money. They are also consistent with my campaign commitment to rank infrastructure using condition, safety, growth pressure, service impact and lifecycle cost, while publicly tracking project delivery, costs and schedules.

Infrastructure is the foundation beneath everything else

Reliable infrastructure supports housing, agriculture, local business, emergency response and everyday family life.

It helps employees reach their workplaces. It helps businesses receive deliveries. It helps emergency vehicles reach people when minutes matter. It allows new homes and commercial development to be considered responsibly. And it helps connect the rural and more urban parts of Laurentian Valley with the communities around us.

Laurentian Valley infrastructure may sit within Township boundaries, but its importance travels far beyond them.

That is why infrastructure is not a side issue in this campaign.

It is the foundation under nearly every other local priority.

Plan it before it becomes an emergency. Maintain it before it becomes a failure. Coordinate the work, explain the choices, and respect the people paying the bill.

That is the practical, accountable approach I will bring to Laurentian Valley Council.

— Travis Czech Candidate for Laurentian Valley Councillor