Residents of Friedensfeld say it is time their road gets repaved. A petition with 51 signatures has been presented to Hanover Council, asking that Road 35E or Hespeler receive a new layer of asphalt.

Marvin Penner met with Hanover Council on Wednesday, representing the group of residents. He says the road is in disrepair.

"It's in dire need of getting some work done to it," says Penner. "We as taxpayers feel that it's time that the RM of Hanover comes in and we re-asphalt it."

Luc Lahaie is Chief Administrative Officer for the RM of Hanover. He says their engineers estimate repaving a mile and a half of Road 35E, north of Friedensfeld Hall would cost about $224,000.

Reeve Stan Toews says improving this road is not a priority right now. In fact, Toews says it is way down on their list. However, Toews says if the residents of Friedensfeld would be willing to do what residents of Pansy did last year, that might expedite the process. Back in 2018, residents of Pansy raised approximately 20 per cent of the cost of rebuilding six miles of Pansy Road. In the case of Hespeler, it works out to about $45,000 that would need to be raised locally.

"The residents feel that with the amount of taxes we all pay, that we should actually be furnished with a good road," says Penner.

Further to that, he says there is non-stop traffic down that stretch in summer and locals should not be expected to pay for a project that benefits more than just those who live nearby.

Even if local residents would contribute 20 per cent of the cost, there is no guarantee that this would suddenly bump the project to top priority. But Toews says it would not hurt.

"I think council would look upon it very favourably if this did happen," he says.

The matter has been sent to Hanover's Works and Operations Committee for review.