Letter to the Editor
Letter to the Editor
by Michael Gravelle
July 14, 2010
MPP Thunder Bay Superior North, Michael Gravelle
Summertime in Northwestern Ontario means camping, boating and swimming, festivals, barbeques and other summer fun. It’s also the peak of road construction season. While that may not sound like the most enjoyable part of summer, the work that’s happening on the TransCanada Highway in and around Thunder Bay and up the North Shore is really great news for all of us!
Our government recognizes that upgrading and repairing our roads, especially here in the North, creates jobs and improves trade and makes our highways safer. That’s why Ontario is investing a record $773 million in the 2010–11 Northern Highways Program, surpassing last year’s previous record amount by $125 million. That’s an increase of almost 20 percent!
Lighting improvements along the Thunder Bay Expressway portion of the highway are progressing well. This construction season also sees work get underway on four-laning a 6 km stretch of Hwy 11/17 from Hodder Avenue to Hwy 527, and a 14 km section from west of Mackenzie Station Road to Birch Beach Road. As well, construction begins on a new interchange at Hodder Avenue and Copenhagen Road, a new intersection at Highway 527 and Spruce River Road, and the realignment of the Terry Fox Scenic Lookout Access Road.
As well, three more four-laning projects were announced recently. Four-laning at the Nipigon River Bridge, and 3 km approaching the bridge from both directions, will start next year. Expansion of another 12 km of highway between Red Rock Road No. 9 and Still Water Creek near Nipigon, and13 km of Hwy 11/17, from Hwy 527 to west of Mackenzie Station Road, will begin in 2012. Once complete, this will create a continuous 33 km stretch of four-lane divided highway east out of Thunder Bay.
Between 5,000 and 10,000 vehicles a day travel along Hwy 11/17 between Thunder Bay and Nipigon. It’s a strategic link in the Trans-Canada Highway System that, in some sections, has no alternate route in the event of a road closure. And we all know that the entire North Shore-to-Manitoba route is, and will continue to be, an important transport route for years to come. That’s why I’ve lobbied hard over the years for these critical investments to our highway infrastructure in Northwestern Ontario, and I’m excited to see these expansions so well underway.
So while you’re waiting to be flagged through construction zones or driving at reduced speeds on our main highway this summer, I hope you’ll keep in mind that the end result will definitely be worth the trip!
