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VICTORIA – Residents of Pemberton, Lillooet and nearby communities will benefit from $518,200 to improve travel and safety on the Lillooet West, Hurley, Birkenhead, and Lillooet River Forest Service roads, West Vancouver-Garibaldi MLA Joan McIntyre, Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell, and Community Development Minister Kevin Krueger announced today.
“Well-maintained Forest Service
roads are critical to this area’s economic growth and tourism industry,” said
McIntyre. “They’re also the only access to several of our First Nation
communities and many rural residents so it’s very important to the people in
this area that they are kept open and safe.”
The Lillooet West Forest Service roads provide access north to Pemberton and south to Harrison, via a connection with the Harrison West and In-SHUCK-ch Forest Service roads, for approximately 250 residents in the First Nation communities of Skatin, Samahquam, Port Douglas and Tipella and for approximately 150 residents of Lillooet Lake Estates.
The Lillooet River and Hurley Forest Service roads provide a
critical link for 200 residents in communities near Carpenter Lake such as
Goldbridge and Bralorne and year-round recreational opportunities such as
Meager Creek Hot Springs and the Upper Lillooet Provincial Park while the Hurley River North Forest
Service Road accesses Gold Bridge, Bralorne, Gun Lake and Tyaughton Lakes. The Birkenhead
Forest Service road provides access for approximately 30 residents of
Birkenhead Lake Estates and year-round recreation opportunities near Tenquille
Lake.
“Forest Service roads are often a critical part of a community’s infrastructure and can be an important part of rural economic development plans,” said Bell.
Improvements will be made on almost 250 kilometres of road and include scaling, brushing, ditching, culvert replacement, and road surface grading.
“Improvements to these Forest Service roads
will give residents better access to health care services, strengthen
connections between communities and allow for a wider range of economic
opportunities,” said Krueger. “In addition, it will allow more visitors seeking
adventure in Squamish Lillooet to experience the beauty of this region.”
British Columbia’s 55,000-kilometre network of Forest Service roads is bigger than the provincial highway system. As first announced by Premier Campbell at the 2008 Union of B.C. Municipalities convention, the Ministry of Forests and Range is providing $20 million to improve travel conditions on Forest Service roads that serve as crucial transportation links to rural communities and recreation sites. The Province of B.C. and the Government of Canada committed on April 7, 2009, to a further $20 million in shared funding for additional Forest Service road upgrades that will be announced in the coming months.
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 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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For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca. |
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