Design of the four-laning of the Trans-Canada Highway and replacement of the Salmon River Bridge is not a done deal.
NDP MLA Claire Trevena, Opposition critic for the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, was looking for timelines and costs during the recent provincial government budget estimates.
She was given the opportunity to ask Minister Todd Stone questions about the Trans-Canada Highway, ones that included the Shuswap.
Trevena told Stone that when she visited Salmon Arm in April the concern arose that the consultation process regarding plans for the west end of town was completely inadequate.
Stone said there have been two rounds of public engagement.
“One was 2012, which was the broader Trans-Canada Highway engagement seeking public input on what the next round of priorities should be for the highway. In 2014 we did the second round of engagement, which was the B.C. on the Move engagement process. We were able to further refine, from the perspective of the public’s input, what the projects leading up to Salmon Arm from the western approaches should look like.
“This project is in the early design stage. There have been a number of discussions and meetings with a wide array of stakeholders. A number of discussions have been held with First Nations in the area, I believe Adams Lake and Neskonlith, as well as with the city of Salmon Arm and a number of businesses.
“Initially very, very preliminary designs, which were shared with all of the above in different interactions, resulted in a great deal of feedback. In fact, there were concerns – expressed from First Nations, local government and, particularly, businesses in the area – relating to access. There were also concerns conveyed with respect to the bridge alignment and whether or not flooding would be properly mitigated as part of the design of the project,” Stone continued.
“As we do with every highway project, we will continue to engage very, very closely with First Nations, local government and, indeed, businesses impacted by this particular project and who have an interest in the project.”
Trevena asked Stone if the design is finalized.
“The design for this particular section is not complete. It isn’t finalized,” Stone said. “There will still be ample opportunities for local governments, First Nations and businesses to offer their input into this particular section of the Trans-Canada Highway. In fact, we have a public open house scheduled for later this spring. Everyone will be invited to come out and look at some potential alignments and offer their feedback, all of which will be taken into account as we continue to refine this particular project.”
She also asked for specifics on timelines and costs for four-laning the Trans-Canada Highway.
“So $10-million per kilometre – can the minister give a dollar figure for the four-laning? And can he give a timeline for when this four-laning will happen? We’ve had the billboards up since 2009…”
Stone said the estimate to complete the four-laning from where it stops, in the Pritchard area, to the Alberta border is about $6 billion, but he didn’t provide a time line.
He said projects the ministry is doing in the Shuswap include: design work on Salmon Arm West; work at Hoffman’s Bluff; and design work on the two sections that would go from Hoffman’s Bluff up to Jade Mountain, just east of Chase.
“Part of the consideration moving forward is that the federal government, in terms of Build Canada funding and their willingness to partner on projects, don’t tend to like the province to get too far out in front of them in terms of announcing projects before funding has been approved,” Stone said.