Close X
Saturday, January 11, 2025
ADVT 
National

Federal, Provincial Governments To Upgrade Highway 1 Through Southeastern B.C.

The Canadian Press, 17 Feb, 2017 12:31 PM
    KAMLOOPS, B.C. — The federal and British Columbia governments have announced $469 million in upgrades to two stretches of Highway 1 through southeastern B.C., including a section that could be the most expensive stretch of road in Canada.
     
    B.C. Transportation Minister Todd Stone says most of the funding, $450 million, is for improvements to a four-kilometre section of the Kicking Horse Canyon east of Golden.
     
    At an estimated $110 million dollars per kilometre, Stone says the upgrades to Highway 1 through the canyon will likely make the roadwork the most expensive in provincial and Canadian history.
     
    He defends the price, saying the short section of highway has a fatality rate three-times higher than the provincial average.
     
     
    Stone and federal Minister of Infrastructure and Communities Amarjeet Sohi also announced $19.4 million to four-lane Highway 1 about 20 kilometres west of Golden, from Donald to Forde Station Road, and make other improvements.
     
    Work on the section west of Golden is expected to begin later this year, but engineering and other challenges linked to the Kicking Horse upgrade means construction won't start until 2019 and will take at least five years to complete.  
     
    "This will be one of the most technically challenging projects in our province's history," Stone says.
     
    In comparison, he points to a $3.5-billion, 10-lane bridge planned for construction over the Fraser River between Richmond and Delta, south of Vancouver, saying it will take two fewer years to build the bridge than the four-kilometre Kicking Horse upgrade.
     
    "Fundamentally, you are dealing with a very steep canyon on one side and a mountain on the other side, so there is a tremendous amount of blasting required and then the technical challenges come into play, in terms of do you tunnel, do you cantilever out," Stone says.
     
     
    Sohi says the federal government is contributing $222 million of the total cost.
     
    British Columbia's share is set at $247 million and Stone says the project is expected to create 1,400 jobs.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Owners Of Toronto's Illegal Pot Shops Not Reporting Violent Robberies: Police

    Toronto police Supt. Bryce Evans says there have been 17 robberies of so-called pot shops since last June and eight of them were not reported to police.

    Owners Of Toronto's Illegal Pot Shops Not Reporting Violent Robberies: Police

    Experienced Skier From Alaska Killed In Avalanche Near Nelson, B.C.

    NELSON, B.C. — Police say a woman from Anchorage, Alaska was the victim of fatal avalanche near Nelson, B.C.

    Experienced Skier From Alaska Killed In Avalanche Near Nelson, B.C.

    Quebec Ticket Claims Saturday Night's $25 Million Lotto 649 Jackpot

    Quebec Ticket Claims Saturday Night's $25 Million Lotto 649 Jackpot
      The $25 million jackpot in Saturday night's Lotto 649 draw was claimed by ticket purchased somewhere in the province.

    Quebec Ticket Claims Saturday Night's $25 Million Lotto 649 Jackpot

    PIC: Family Of Irked Boy At New Brunswick Town Hall To Name Baby After Trudeau

    PIC: Family Of Irked Boy At New Brunswick Town Hall To Name Baby After Trudeau
    Abdel Kader Al Shaikh was photographed covering his hands over his eyes with his head tilted towards the ceiling as he sat in the front row of Trudeau's town hall in Fredericton last week.

    PIC: Family Of Irked Boy At New Brunswick Town Hall To Name Baby After Trudeau

    Cape Breton Park Raising Money For Cage For Bear Cub Found Wandering The Highway

    Cape Breton Park Raising Money For Cage For Bear Cub Found Wandering The Highway
    WHYCOCOMAGH, N.S. — An orphaned black bear cub found wandering alone and pneumonia-stricken on a Cape Breton highway has been nursed back to health.

    Cape Breton Park Raising Money For Cage For Bear Cub Found Wandering The Highway

    Verdict Expected For Calgary Mother Who Treated Sick Son Holistically

    Verdict Expected For Calgary Mother Who Treated Sick Son Holistically
    CALGARY — A woman who treated her son with holistic remedies including dandelion tea and oil of oregano before he died of a strep infection is expected to learn her fate today.

    Verdict Expected For Calgary Mother Who Treated Sick Son Holistically