The Trans-Canada Highway in B.C.’s Interior will receive $159 million in improvements, the federal government announced on Wednesday.
The improvements includes lane widening, bridge replacements, consolidating access roads, improving rock catchments, altering medians for better visibility, adding passing lanes and replacing culverts.
The federal government made the announcement in Tappen, a small community located along the Trans-Canada Highway and a short drive from Salmon Arm.
The improvements will take place in the Shuswap and Columbia regions. The projects are tagged at costing $82.1 million, from Ford Road to Tappen Valley Road; $45.7 million, from Jumping Creek to the Jack MacDonald snowshed; and $31.5 million, for Selkirk Mountain near Golden.
Ford Road to Tappen Valley Road
- Expand and upgrade 4.3 km of the Trans-Canada Highway from two to four lanes, consolidate highway access points through a new frontage road system and replace the Tappen overhead bridge.
Jumping Creek to Jack MacDonald snowshed:
- Expansion of 2.6 km of the Trans-Canada Highway, approximately 40 km east of Revelstoke, from two lanes to four lanes, complete with a median barrier for added safety, as well as retaining walls and new culverts.
Selkirk Mountain
- Upgrade of a 2.5 km stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway, including an expansion from two lanes to four, safety improvements such as median barriers and wildlife exclusion fencing and closure of two access roads.
The federal government also announced $17.971 million in upgrades for Highway 93/95 from Golden to Fort Steele; $4.7 million for the Alaska Highway and Swanon Lumber Road intersection near Fort St. John; and $3 million for a passing lane for Highway 3 near the village of Jaffray.
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Overall, the six projects amounted to more than $185 million.
“Safe uncongested transportation routes keep people and goods moving smoothly and are essential to helping our businesses compete and improving people’s daily lives,” Bernadette Jordan, federal minister of rural economic development, said in a press release.
“These important upgrades will get people where they need to go safely and smoothly while supporting the regional economy.”
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