The city of Greater Sudbury is renewing efforts to get money to build the Maley Drive extension, a project that aims to reduce traffic congestion in the busy New Sudbury area.

City officials and the mayor will meet with provincial and federal representatives while at a municipal conference next week in Ottawa. They hope to pave the way for support of the $130 million project that has been talked about for years.

To travel east-west across the city, drivers currently have to use Lasalle Boulevard or Kingsway Boulevard. Many people use Maley Drive to zig-zag through New Sudbury neighbourhoods to avoid the frequently clogged Lasalle Boulevard. According to a city background information, a Maley Drive extension could cut congestion on those two roads by up to 30 per cent.

People like Richard Robert think it’s a great idea to build the new road.

“All you have to do is drive on the two main roads of the city,” he said.

If they’re “backed up … and causing a lot of problems,” people are stuck.

“This should have been done a long time ago,” Robert said.

Council now wants to see if it can secure money to at least get going on the road. Breaking the project up into phases may be the key.

“The likelihood of getting [a] successful funding application may increase if we ask for a lesser amount,” said David Shelsted, who runs the city's transportation department

And by phasing in construction, Shelsted said the city's residents would at least start realizing some of the benefits of the Maley Drive extension.

“Some of the benefits [would come] as soon as you make some of the links,” he said.

“Basically the most important link is going from College Boreal 's entrance at Lasalle all the way to the intersection of Barrydowne and Maley Drive. At that point you make an alternate link east-west for travelling in the city.”

The hope is that the province and the federal government will be willing to kick-in two-thirds of the cost of an initial phase of the project.