With both the Alberta and British Columbia provincial cabinets meeting in conference in Prince George this week, the topic of infra structure became a combined focus for both.
The topic of Highway 16, the east-west link between Prince Rupert, the Fairview Port and Alberta is high on their mind and perhaps one day to be deep into their pockets.
At the Prince George meetings, the idea of twinning the northern route known as the Yellowhead was given its due attention. A project that Premier Campbell suggests is "critical to the long term economic opportunities that can be created here." Not to mention a tad helpful we suspect in next springs election campaign.
It would of course be a welcome thing for the North coast to see a twinning of the highway, especially the dangerous portions between Terrace and Rupert, not to mention make the long drive through to Prince George a little safer for travellers.
We will watch with interest if the declaration is just one of those photo op, political pamphlet moments or if there is some blacktop to go with the idea in the near future.
Opinion 250 provided some details on the potential twinning and the reasons behind its suggestion.
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Prince George, B.C.- With the Port of Prince Rupert producing rail and rubber tire traffic, is there a desire to twin highway 16 from Hinton to the coast?
The answer is yes.
Alberta has already spent time and energy to have the highway twinned to the Jasper Park gates, but, the section of highway that runs through the park is Federal domain.
B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell says the 16 corridor is on his government’s radar “Highway 16, like highway 97, is one of our priority highway projects. We think they are critical to the long term economic opportunities that can be created here.”
Campbell says it won’t happen over night, “But it’s something we’re going to invest in because we think its a critical part of the northern corridor. The Northern right of way which is not just highway 16 but the rail right of way, the pipe line right of way; working with First Nations across the north will be a critical component as will the environmental assessments.
What we’re trying to do together (with Alberta ) is get the Federal Government say yes, let’s get on with it.”
Campbell says there is no time to waste, “We have to work as quickly as we can and investing in highway 16 is part of that.”
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