Cariboo Connector four-laning work underway at 70 Mile

Work on the second phase of the Cariboo Connector project began Thursday near 70 Mile House.

That's where construction started on widening a four-kilometre stretch of Highway 97 to four lanes, from Willow Road to 1.2 km north of Cunningham Road.

The project's total value is $11.8 million, according to the Ministry of Transportation, and of that amount, $6.3 million is going into clearing and grading two new lanes in preparation for the 2013 construction season.

The is scheduled for completion in fall 2013 and an estimated 60 jobs will be created over the project's life.

It's the first of nine projects adding up to 30 kilometres and $200 million planned for the highway and follows on a first phase of 18 projects worth $240 million. The last of those projects, from 148 Mile to the turnoff to Likely, wraps up this year.

Construction will start on one other project this year, from Old Cariboo Highway to Sintich Road, about 4.5 kilometres in length.

By the time the second phase is finished in five years, nearly 50 per cent of the 440 kilometres between Prince George and Cache Creek will be either three or four lanes wide.