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Construction, Roadwork and Closures

Construction and closures

Kawartha Lakes hosts many large and small construction projects each year. For full details on projects, including public notices, proposed designs and project backgrounds, please visit our Major Projects section of the website.

Road Construction, Restrictions and Closures on Municipal 511


Did You Know about Road Maintenance?

Watch Deputy Mayor Tracy Richardson in the short video below and learn how road maintenance operations work in Kawartha Lakes:


Applications and Forms

Introducing, Permit Central, our new online public access portal for Roads Operations Permits.

Please note that Permit Central is now the only place you can apply for the five roads operations permits listed below. Submitting the applications via email, will not be an option moving forward.

As of June 3, 2024 the following permits are exclusively available in Permit Central:

Note that the above permit applications must all be submitted, inclusive of payment where applicable, via the Permit Central online portal.

Check out the Permit Central How to Guide for more information on how to sign up and use the portal. If you need help while applying for permits, read the Permit Central How to Guide for Roads Operations Permits

If you need assistance creating a Permit Central account, please contact Roads Operations at 705-324-9411 extension 1171.


The following applications are not in Permit Central and no changes have been made to how they should be completed:

  • Utility companies require Municipal Consent in order to make installations within the City of Kawartha Lakes right-of way. Approval of a Municipal Consent is only granted to utility companies, commissions, agencies and private applicants, who have the authority to construct, operate and maintain their infrastructure within the City right-of-way.

    All utility work within the City requires Municipal Consent from Engineering & Corporate Assets and a Road Occupancy Permit Application from the Public Works Department. With the exception of emergency work, no installations shall begin before Municipal Consent has been received. Companies must provide formal, detailed drawings for review that show where the utility will be placed. CKL aims to have Municipal Consents approved within 30 days of submission. This deadline cannot always be met depending on request complexity, scope of project and number of submissions received.


    Please contact Engineering & Corporate Assets to start the process of submitting a Municipal Consent Application.

Ministry of Transportation roadwork

The Ministry of Transportation Southern Highways Program outlines plans for construction on Ministry of Transportation Ontario roads in our area.

There are four provincial highways with segments in Kawartha Lakes:

  • Highway 35
  • Highway 115
  • Highway 7A
  • Highway 7

These highways and their intersections with municipal roads are the responsibility of the Ministry of Transportation Ontario. The Ministry usually tenders maintenance operations to private contractors.

All provincial highways within the municipality are currently tendered to Emcon Services Inc.

Emcon Services Inc.
6611 Highway 7,
Cavan Monaghan, Ontario
1-877-979-0998

You will find Ministry of Transportation contact information on their website.

Road programs in Kawartha Lakes

5-Year Roads Plan: The municipality conducts a Roads Needs Study every 5 years to help assess repairs required for our 2,677 km of road network. The study groups roads into three priorities: Now, 1 to 5 years and 6 to 10 years. The study is also responsible for providing improvement costs that are incorporated into the operating and capital budgets each year. The goal of the study is to monitor and manage our road networks and provide information which is used to formulate for the City’s 5-year roads plan. This plan is a fluid plan which can be amended based on the yearly capital budgeted process.

To view a list of the current 5-year plan (2023-2027) of the following road sections based on the resurfacing programs, please see the referenced appendices below.

To confirm what projects have occurred or are occurring in the upcoming year, refer to the current capital budget.

The City presented the 5-year roads plan, for the years 2023-2027, to Council in September 2022.

View the CORP2022-001 2022 Ontario Community Infrastructure Funding Allocation report here.

View the ENG2021-014 Low Volume Gravel Roads report here.

View the 2024 Program Low Volume Roads roads for upgrading to Hardtop here.

View the 2024 Slurry Seal Program roads here.


Lifecycle Extension Program: in order to keep the good roads good (and off the capital improvements list including the programs below), this program identifies roads that need to be resurfaced and treated within a specified time before in order to preserve and extend their life cycle, preventing a premature replacement of the asset. This includes services such as crack sealing, surface treatment, asphalt overlays and drainage improvements.

View the report that was presented to Council on June 6, 2023

View minutes requesting additional roads

List of Approved 2024 Roads


Gravel roadGravel Resurfacing Program: There are three kinds of roads in Kawartha Lakes: Hot mix Asphalt, surface treated and gravel. This program identifies gravel roads that need maintenance and repair. High volume gravel roads have an average lifecycle of 5 to 7 years, so this program aims to extend that to 10 years. 

List of Approved 2024 Roads

                                                                    2024 Budget: $2,026,000

Rural roadRural Resurfacing: this program manages the low-volume rural roads, involving processes such as pulverizing distressed surfaces, performing base repairs to the road , culvert replacement and ditching as well as placing new granular materials on the road before resurfacing with two layers of High Float material (tar and chip).

List of Approved 2024 Roads

2024 Budget: $6,439,000


Urban roadUrban/Arterial Resurfacing Program: this program identifies higher traffic volume roads on the City’s arterial and collector road network within towns, villages and hamlets that require upgrades such as placing a brand new surface of hot mix asphalt overtop to provide safe and sustainable roads.

List of Approved 2024 Roads

 2024 Budget: $8,490,000


Reconstruction imageUrban/Rural Reconstruction Program: this program identifies roads that need to be completely reconstructed in Urban and Rural areas. This program addresses things like storm sewer and watermain replacements, brand new base materials and infrastructure such as gutter and sidewalk installation and drainage improvements.

List of Approved 2024 Roads

2024 Budget: $7,783,000


Contact Us

Roads T. 705-324-9411
After hours municipal emergencies 1-877-885-7337