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SQUAMISH – The Sea-to-Sky Improvement Project is proceeding according to schedule, resulting in improved safety, reliability and capacity, Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon and West Vancouver-Garibaldi MLA Ted Nebbeling announced today.
“Today, we are awarding nearly $45 million in construction work to upgrade and improve the Sea-to-Sky Highway,” Falcon said. “In addition, we have completed the one-kilometre test section, which was finished on time and under its $10.6-million budget.”
Peter Kiewit Sons Co. has been awarded $39 million to widen seven kilometres of Highway 99 to four lanes, from Ansell Place to the southern limit of the Village of Lions Bay. The upgrades are expected to be complete by summer 2007.
“This is a large, challenging and important upgrade that will help reduce the high accident rate and improve safety,” said Nebbeling. “The entire Sea-to-Sky Improvement Project will create 6,000 new jobs throughout the province as a result of economic activity generated along the corridor.”
Peter Kiewit has also been awarded $4.3 million to complete preparatory work between Cheakamus Canyon and Daisy Channel. The work will consist of road grading and embankment, rock excavation and slope stabilization.
The province has also completed construction of the test section of the Sea-to-Sky Highway between Montizambert Creek and Strip Creek.
“The test section allowed us to find the best ways to improve the highway in difficult terrain, as well as minimize impact on the travelling public,” Falcon said. “All of our objectives were met. We will use this new information as we move forward with the Sea-to-Sky Improvement Project.”
Construction of the test section focused on widening Highway 99 to the west by supporting the new highway lanes with structures, as opposed to impacting the traffic with large rock excavations to the east.
The primary objectives of the test section were to: · Confirm geotechnical assumptions from earlier investigations. · Test structural solutions developed specifically to address constructability in difficult terrain. · Confirm that construction can be successfully achieved under the proposed traffic-management regime. · Share findings with industry for future construction projects, to benefit from lessons learned.
“When I was the mayor of Whistler, I called on the previous government to improve this highway and very little was done, but this government has made a commitment to substantially improve the Sea-to-Sky highway,” Nebbeling said. “Now we are following through with that commitment, on time and on budget, so everyone may enjoy a safer journey along this stretch of road through to the 2010 Winter Olympics and beyond.”
The province is investing $600 million in the Sea-to-Sky Highway Improvement Project to meet population growth and increasing travel demands. The project will include widening, straightening, improved sightlines, passing lanes and other measures to reduce hazards, shorten travel times and enhance traffic flow on the highway. It will be completed by fall 2009 and is expected to result in 30 per cent fewer accidents each year.
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