H022/13
For release - February 26, 2013
KAMLOOPS, BRITISH COLUMBIA – Work to improve the safety of Highway 1 east of Pritchard will get underway this year, with the first phase of the Highway 1 Pritchard to Hoffman's Bluff project going to tender this week.
Phase 1 of the Pritchard to Hoffman's Bluff project, located approximately 42 kilometres east of Kamloops, will widen three kilometres of a 6.1-kilometre segment of the Trans-Canada Highway from two lanes to four lanes, and upgrade an intersection at Stoney Flats Road.
To improve safety on this stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway, a 2.6-metre-wide median with a barrier will divide the highway. The shoulders will be 2.5 metres wide to improve safety for motorists and cyclists, and rumble strips will be added. A new intersection with a centre merge lane at Stoney Flats Road will consolidate two intersections and five private access roads to further improve access safety.
Phase 2 of the Hoffman's Bluff project will realign and widen the remaining 3.1 kilometres of the segment of the Trans-Canada Highway through Hoffman's Bluff. It is anticipated this phase will go to tender in 2014.
The total cost of the Pritchard to Hoffman's Bluff project is $61.6 million. The Government of Canada is contributing a maximum of $26.9 million through the Building Canada Fund. The Government of B.C. will invest $34.7 million for this highway safety improvement.
The Highway 1 Pritchard to Hoffman's Bluff project is part of the Government of B.C.'s commitment to invest $650 million over 10 years into Highway 1 between Kamloops and the Alberta border.
A public engagement process is currently underway. Information is available online at: www.bchwy1.ca.
The Highway 1 Kamloops to Alberta Four-Laning Program will create 3,300 direct jobs over the next 10 years.
Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Mary Polak:
"This ties into the work underway from Monte Creek to Pritchard, and will make a huge improvement to an important stretch of Highway 1 when complete. The new alignment will improve the flow of traffic, provide for guaranteed passing opportunities and consolidate some highway accesses, which will improve safety for local families, visitors and commercial users."
Member of Parliament for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo Cathy McLeod:
"Our Government is pleased to invest in Highway 1 improvements that will make everyday travel safer for drivers and passengers along the Kamloops to Salmon Arm corridor. This project will also reduce traffic congestion, create local jobs and promote long-term economic growth in the region."
Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Terry Lake:
"We know how important Highway 1 is to the economy of Kamloops and other interior communities. This work on a particularly challenging section of Highway 1 continues a commitment by government to increase safety on the Trans-Canada corridor east of Kamloops."
Kamloops-South Thompson MLA Kevin Krueger:
"My constituents and I have been working to facilitate the Highway 1 improvements through Hoffman's Bluff for many years, with the goal to prevent such collisions as have occurred in the area. It is so encouraging that the government continues to pour the resources we committed into the fulfillment of this goal. This is an exciting, major next step."
Learn more about transportation projects happening throughout B.C. at: www.th.gov.bc.ca/tranprojectsbc/.
Follow the work of the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure online at: www.tranbc.ca.
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Contacts:
Kate Trotter
Government Communications and Public Engagement
Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure
250 356-8241
Geneviève Sicard
Press Secretary
Office of the Honourable Denis Lebel
Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities
Ottawa
613-991-0700
Media Relations
Transport Canada, Ottawa
613-993-0055
Transport Canada is online at www.tc.gc.ca. Subscribe to e-news at www.tc.gc.ca/e-news or stay connected through RSS, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr to keep up to date on the latest from Transport Canada.
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