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FORT NELSON – Residents of Peace River will benefit from $6 million in joint federal and provincial funding to sealcoat Highway 77 from Deasum Creek to the Northwest Territory border, announced today by Member of Parliament for Prince George-Peace River and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons Jay Hill, and MLA of Peace River South Blair Lekstrom.
Crews will be carrying out base strengthening and upgrading of the road structure, bringing it to 100 per cent carrying capacity, with a new hard surface over 25 km. Construction will start in June 2009 and finish in September 2009.
“This is another example of a shovel-ready project that our Conservative Government has identified as a priority to stimulate the local economy,” said Hill. “Here in the North our focus has been and will continue to be to get shovels in the ground the minute the frost comes out of the ground.”
“This project will improve travel and safety conditions and is expected to create approximately 40 jobs, at a time when the need for economic stimulus is greatest," said Lekstrom. “The provincial and federal governments are clearly committed to ensuring that while we face these economic challenges we are keeping British Columbians working, while at the same time investing in our northern communities.”
This project is part of the $290-million infrastructure investment, recently announced by the Government of Canada and the Province of B.C.
The
provincial portion of the funding comes from an overall $14-billion
capital infrastructure program supported by the Province that will create up to
88,000 jobs and help build vital public infrastructure in every region of B.C.
The federal portion of the funding comes from the $4-billion Infrastructure Stimulus Fund to provide funding to provincial, territorial and municipal infrastructure projects. Funding will be available for two years for projects that will begin during the 2009 and 2010 construction seasons. This initiative is structured to flow funding and get shovels in the ground quickly.
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Communications Manager Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure 250 356-7707 |
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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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