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VICTORIA – Residents of Clearwater and its surrounding communities will benefit from $110,000 to improve travel and safety conditions on a portion of the Clearwater 100 Mile Forest Service road, Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell and Community Development Minister Kevin Krueger announced today.
“The Clearwater 100 Mile Forest Service Road is used as a critical link
between Clearwater and Highway 5,” said Krueger. “Improvements
to the road, bridge and bridge railings will provide safer access for drivers and pedestrians. We’re pleased that the
provincial government is providing the funds needed to ensure that this road is
safe for the people in our rural communities who rely on it.”
The funding will provide
for railings and curbs on the bridge, grading to make the road smoother,
ditching to maintain drainage, and brushing, which involves the removal of
bushes from the side of the road to improve sightlines, on 39.4 kilometres of
the road.
“Clearwater is the largest community in the North Thompson Valley and has grown significantly in the past two decades,” said Bell. “It’s important that we keep the Forest Service road, known locally as Road 2, open and safe for our rural residents and Clearwater’s economic development.”
British Columbia’s 55,000-kilometre network of Forest Service roads is bigger than the provincial highway system. As first announced by Premier Gordon Campbell at the 2008 Union of B.C. Municipalities convention, the Ministry of Forests and Range is providing $20 million over two years to improve travel conditions on Forest Service roads that serve as crucial transportation links for rural communities and recreation sites.
New road maintenance funding is the latest in a series of initiatives to improve safety on Forest Service roads, which include the establishment of radio protocols, speed enforcement through the expanded use of radar guns, and the expansion of the Vehicle Identification Plates Program.
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Public Affairs Officer Ministry of Forests and Range 250 387-4592 |
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