$665,300 TO IMPROVE THOMPSON-NICOLA FOREST ROADS

VICTORIA – Residents of the Thompson-Nicola and North Thompson regions will benefit from $665,300 to improve travel and safety on local Forest Service roads, Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell and Community Development Minister Kevin Krueger announced today.

“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, they will allow more visitors seeking adventure in Thompson-Nicola to experience the beauty of this region.”

Altogether, 750 kilometres of roadway will be upgraded and improved within the Kamloops, Headwaters and Cascades forest districts.

Roads scheduled for work in the Kamloops forest district include: Dairy Lake, Jamieson Creek, Scuitto Lake and McGillivray Lake. The McGillivray Lake Forest Service road provides an alternate route to the Sun Peaks ski resort during the summer and can also be used to access several popular recreation areas. Improvements will largely consist of surfacing, ditching and brushing.

In the Cascades forest district, the Nicomen River, Prospect Creek, Tulameen River, Lawless-Britton and Lawless Creek Forest Service roads will undergo maintenance. The Nicomen River Forest Service road provides access to the Trans-Canada Highway for approximately 85 members of the Nicomen Indian Band. The Prospect Creek Forest Service road near Merritt links about 35 rural residents to local amenities.

Residents within the Headwaters forest district will benefit from grading, spot surfacing and ditching on the Adams East, Vavenby-Adams and Tête Jaune Croydon Forest Service roads. The Adams East in the Clearwater area, and Tête Jaune Croydon in the Robson Valley, provide access for approximately 400 rural residents.

“We want to ensure that crucial Forest Service roads that connect rural communities, as well as parks and wilderness areas, in British Columbia receive the maintenance needed to keep those communities accessible,” said Bell.

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

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