Local residents are seeing improvements as Brock addresses road concerns

DARRYL KNIGHT Local Journalism Initiative Reporter for The Standard

BROCK: Residents across Brock Township are beginning to see improvements to local roads, following an emergency special council meeting, held on April 17th, to address concerns over deteriorating road conditions after a difficult winter and spring.

Mayor Mike Jubb recently provided an update on the municipality’s response, stating, “Immediately after that meeting, and within four working days, all 150 km of our gravel roads were graded,” Furthermore, Mayor Jubb explained. “Status quo is no longer acceptable, but there is an enormous amount of work to do which is going to take time and money.”

The Mayor said, a second round of grading has since begun, while calcium treatment on gravel roads is expected to start within the next two weeks.

Township staff are also preparing more detailed plans and performance targets aimed at improving long-term maintenance efforts.

“This will involve a ditching, brushing and shouldering plan which will show clear key performance indicators in order to have a strategic plan on all of those issues,” Mayor Jubb told The Standard.

Crews have also been repairing hard-surfaced rural roads damaged by freeze-thaw conditions and heavy spring moisture.

At the same time, several capital road projects approved in Brock Township’s 2026 budget are expected to begin in the coming weeks. Planned work includes: maintenance gravel replacement, construction gravel replacement, slurry seal projects and a new cold asphalt technology program.

“All of our major capital programs are just about to take off for 2026,” Mayor Jubb added. “All of this will be coming together to see an enormous amount of work done throughout this 2026 season.”

For residents, who have dealt with rough conditions this spring, the recent maintenance work has been welcomed.

“The roads were pretty tough in some areas earlier this year,” said Sunderland resident Dave Mitchell. “The grading has definitely helped, and people are glad to see the township responding.”

Beaverton resident, Lisa Carter said, rural roads are especially important for daily commuting and farm traffic.

“People understand you can’t fix everything overnight, but they wanted to know something was being done,” Ms. Carter said. “It sounds like there’s finally a bigger plan in place.”

Mayor Jubb acknowledged the amount of work ahead but stressed the importance of taking a long-term approach.

“To be completely clear and transparent, this is all going to come together, but it will take time and planning,” he said. “It is imperative this gets done right with a proper plan using proper procedures and techniques.”