$1.5M WILL IMPROVE CARIBOO-CHILCOTIN ROAD NETWORK

VICTORIA – Residents of the Cariboo-Chilcotin will benefit from nearly $1.5 million to improve travel and safety on Forest Service roads, Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell and Community Development Minister Kevin Krueger announced today.

“Rural communities have identified safe road access into their communities as an important part of their rural economic development plans,” said Bell. “Government funding to maintain local Forest Service roads support that goal.”

The $1.499 million will be used for maintenance and some improvements on 557.7 kilometres of Forest Service roads in the Central Cariboo and Chilcotin forest districts. The roads are an important transportation link for approximately 880 area residents.

In the Cariboo forest district, funding will allow some surfacing, grading ditching and brushing where required along the Chilcotin South, Place Lake, Harvey’s Creek, Sheridan Creek, Horsefly-Quesnel Lake, Horsefly River, McKusky, Black Creek-Bosk Lake, Black Creek-Cruiser Lake, Horsefly-Likely, Hendrix Creek, Cariboo River, Joe’s Lake Forest Service roads.

As well, grading, spot graveling, ditching and brushing will occur on the Cariboo River and Cunningham Forest Service roads that connect Wells and Likely and also provide access to a number of recreation sites, including the popular Ghost Lake.

“These Forest Service Roads are used as a critical link between Williams Lake and surrounding communities,” said Krueger. “Improvements to these roads will provide safer access for residents and visitors to First Nations communities and many remote recreational sites. 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 51-kilometre Chicotin South Forest Service road, which links Hanceville to Williams Lake, was recently upgraded to a calcium-stabilized road surface which reduces dust and provides a smoother surface. The funding will allow continued maintenance of a calcium-stabilized surface.

In the Chilcotin forest district, funding will allow some surfacing, grading, ditching and brushing where required along the Charlotte Lake, Alex Graham-Palmer, Elkin-Taskeo/Vedan, Clusko R-Thunder M, Puntzi Lake, Puntzi Tankerbase, Mosely Creek, Anah Lake, Hooch Lake, Hooch Lake-Charlotte Lake East, Hooch Lake - Gano South, Chilko Lake, Smokey Lake and Minto Creek Forest Service roads.

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 British Columbia 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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Media contact:	Jennifer McLarty Public Affairs Officer Ministry of Forests and Range 250 387-4592

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