Episode four of our series on the 2024 municipal budget, which we're producing in partnership with Arthur Newspaper. In this episode, we dive into the capital budget.

We start this episode on Sherbrooke Street near the city's western limit, where there's stretch of road that is nasty to navigate as a pedestrian. Folks who walk along this part of Sherbrooke wish the city would build a sidewalk to make their commutes easier and safer.

But it doesn't look like they'll get their sidewalk any time soon. That's because the city is struggling to keep up with its infrastructure costs and is prioritizing other road projects first. During November's budget talks, city councillors voted down a proposal to spend $1.8 million on a temporary sidewalk to help pedestrians out until the city pays for a more permanent fix.

According to the city's budget documents, Peterborough faces a $70 million infrastructure shortfall every year. That's forcing councillors to make tough choices about which projects they fund and which ones they delay.

In this episode of our 2024 Budget podcast series, Brett Throop and Will Pearson dive into the city's capital budget. We cover:

• The $70 million hole in Peterborough's capital budget
• Major capital projects for 2024, including the new twin pad arena
• Why councillors voted to kill Peterborough's traffic calming program
• The sidewalk on Sherbrooke Street
• Should we think of trees as capital assets?
• And more!

City council is expected to give its final approval to the 2024 budget on December 11. We'll have a final wrap-up episode of the podcast series after that. Thanks for listening!

CREDITS: This episode was produced by Brett Throop. It was hosted by Brett and Will Pearson.

MUSIC: Thanks to Will Ward for his piano improvisations, which were recorded at The John, the event space at Sadleir House.

PLEASE SUPPORT PETERBOROUGH CURRENTS: It's not just the city that is budgeting for 2024. So are we. We're making big decisions for the coming year right now. Can we afford to hire new staff and produce more journalism? Or will we have to cut back and produce less? Everything is on the table. If you want us to continue producing in-depth, community-centred journalism next year, please support us if you are able. Here's where you can sign up: https://peterboroughcurrents.ca/support-us/