The B.C. Liberal government announced funding today for a key highway improvement north of Prince George expected to give businesses in the region better access to a potential $2 billion market in northeast B.C.
The $1.69-million project to lower the level of the road surface of Highway 97 at the West Pine CNR overheard, about 70 kilometres west of Chetwynd, will increase the height clearance for big rigs by 10 per cent to 5.35 metres.
The lower clearance had restricted commercial vehicles from transporting large machinery and other resources in and out of the Peace region, experiencing an economic boom because of the heated natural gas sector.
Work, awarded to Cariboo Construction Ltd. of Prince George, is slated to begin in June and be finished by the end of August.
Jobs, Tourism and Innovation Minister Pat Bell pointed to the billions of dollars of investment by energy and mineral companies slated for the northeast region, which includes the Montney and Horn gas basins.
"I don't want to say this is the final element, but this is certainly the key, final element to opening up that market place," sad Bell of the project to increase the highway overhead clearance.
More work in the northeast will now be available to firms in Mackenzie, Prince George, Quesnel and Vanderhoof, said Bell, the MLA for Prince George-Mackenzie.
The project to lower the West Pine CNR overheard is in addition to the $40-million Bennett Creek to Link Creek project on Highway 97 west of Chetwynd.
The major re-alignment will improve corners to a 90 km/h standard and includes construction of four new bridges. The project is currently underway and will be finished this fall.
A nearly 18-month-old report produced by the Northern Development Initiative Trust concluded Highway 97 needed about $135 million worth of improvements to open the northeast to the rest of the province.
The trust report said the payoff would be access to a market estimated at $2 billion annually that is currently dominated by Alberta firms who can more easily move equipment and material to the region.
