08/17/2026
$73 Million Capital Budget — Let’s Prioritize What Residents Need Most
During my door knocking, one of the concerns I hear most often is the condition of our roads — road resurfacing, potholes, sidewalks and general maintenance.
So I went through Pickering’s 2026 budget. It took a lot of time to learn, research and put this together, but trust me, it was worth it.
The 2026 Pickering Capital Budget already includes significant road investment, including $5.25 million for road rehabilitation, $2.98 million for Third Concession Road and $1.67 million for Sixth Concession Road/Greenwood Bridge.
The Roads operating budget also increases by about $964,000 (9.55%), with two additional road maintenance workers as the City takes on about 15 km of new roads.
So the issue isn't that Pickering is spending nothing on roads. It is whether enough of the available capital is reaching neighbourhood-level problems quickly enough.
My Plan for Improvement:
Consider an additional $2 to 3M annually to accelerate neighbourhood infrastructure, focusing on road resurfacing, potholes, sidewalk repairs, pedestrian crossings, drainage & stormwater problems and traffic calming.
Where Could the Money Come From?
Before increasing property taxes, look first at re-prioritizing the existing capital budget, the Roads & Bridges Reserve, any federal/provincial grants, Canada Community-Building funding where eligible, and casino revenue where appropriate.
The 2026 capital budget already includes approximately $8.03M from the Roads & Bridges Reserve, $1.67M from the Canada Community-Building Fund and $8.96M from Casino Reserve.
If residents are consistently asking for road repairs, sidewalks and safety improvements, Council could review other planned capital projects and ask: “Is this project more important right now than fixing our roads?”
The first step should therefore be to examine whether $2–3M can be reprioritized within the existing $73.23M capital program, supplemented where eligible by roads reserves and government infrastructure funding.
How I would measure whether this actually works?
Rather than measuring success by “we spent another $3 million,” Council could require annual reporting on road kilometres resurfaced, number of high-priority roads completed, pavement-condition improvement, sidewalk repairs, drainage issues resolved, projects completed on schedule and cost per kilometre.
That makes the policy about results, not spending.
The bottom line is invest approximately $2 to 3M more per year in neighbourhood roads and infrastructure, find the funding through better prioritization first, and give residents clear timelines and measurable results.
This is the kind of City Councillor I will work to be — one who listens, does the homework, asks the tough questions and focuses on results.
I’m Priya Vadivel, and I would be honoured to earn your support and your vote on October 26th for City Councillor, Ward 1, Pickering.
