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Montreal will boost the amount it usually plans to invest in its aging infrastructure by close to $1 billion over three years, dipping into its operating budget and increasing its debt to repair its roads and bridges, water mains and heritage buildings.

Much of the increase will go toward surface repair of its rutted roads ($100 million) and legacy projects tied to the city’s 375th birthday in 2017 ($300 million).

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Chief among its priorities, however, will be to increase the rate at which projects are actually carried out: in 2013, the city only completed 39 per cent of work planned under its capital works budget; the two years before that the average rate of completion was only 50 per cent.

The city’s road patching priorities drew criticism from opposition party Projet Montréal, which called the budget a missed opportunity to create a lasting legacy. It contends the money would be better spent on enduring investments like public transit and affordable housing as opposed to asphalt repairs “that will only last two years.”