MONCTON – Nine months after a project to twin a portion of Route 11 was announced, it has yet to move forward.
In June 2014, federal Minister of Infrastructure Denis Lebel and former Premier David Alward announced the project under the Building Canada Fund. Construction was supposed to begin between Shediac and the Sainte Gregoire area last year.
Accidents are common on Route 11, including one on Sept. 4, 2014 that killed three people. The highway has been dubbed a “death trap.”
The project was supposed to improve safety and speed-up the movement of goods on the busy Route that runs from Shediac to Miramichi. It involved the construction of a new 6.8 km, four-lane controlled access bypass and the twinning of the highway from Shediac to the south side of Shediac River.
The federal government had said it would conditionally set aside up to 50 per cent of the eligible costs to a maximum of $27 million, while New Brunswick would be responsible for the remaining costs, estimated at $60 million.
In a statement to Global News Wednesday, the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure confirmed the project is not moving forward at the moment.
“The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure is waiting for a response from the federal government in regard to a shared funding agreement for this infrastructure project,” spokesperson Leah Fitzgerald said in an e-mail. “In order for the project to proceed, the province needs the involvement of the federal government.”
On Wednesday, Vincent Rabault, press secretary of Minister Lebel told Global News in an e-mail, “I want to reaffirm that our government is supportive of the Route 11 project. That is why we announced in June 2014, that we had conditionally set aside up to 50 per cent of eligible costs, to a maximum of $27 million, for the project under the New Building Canada Fund.”
But the federal government has yet to sign a contribution agreement with the province.
Donna Green said she gets nervous every time she has to take Route 11 from Moncton.
“I do think back to, even though it was years ago when I did lose my sister-in-law, just about the safety and the issues of going out on the highway,” she said.
Green’s sister-in-law, Terry, was killed in 1998, when she lost control of her car and hit an 18-wheeler head-on. Terry was seven months pregnant at the time.
Green was happy about the announcement last June, but is disappointed about the delay.
Shediac Mayor Jacques LeBlanc says he remains confident the project will go ahead, but agrees it’s time the shovels were in the ground.
“There is a lot of commercial development waiting to happen, but they’re waiting for that commitment for the road to be started,” he said.
“We’re supporting a phenomenal amount of traffic on that road. You know when we get counts of 22,000 cars going through there on a daily basis, that’s quite significant for the province of New Brunswick.”
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