The BC NDP committed to four-laning the Trans-Canada Highway, but they haven’t provided any details on how it would be done.
NDP leader John Horgan told the gathering of municipal leaders at the UBCM that twinning the highway from Kamloops to the Alberta border would be a priority for an NDP government.
A news release about the announcement provided no details on how that would be accomplished, nor did it mention timelines for doing so or how it would be paid for. The cost of twinning the provincial stretches of the highway is reported to be in the $6 billion range.
Norm Macdonald, the MLA for Columbia River-Revelstoke said despite that, the announcement is significant because it commits the NDP to following through on the pledge.
“I think the significance is any time there is that commitment, from my perspective is it’s a good thing. It allows you to push on the issue,” he said. “We’re the ones who know the issue in detail and sometimes these things can be lost on a province that’s centre far, far from here. We know the economic importance and we know, often from personal experience, the safety issues.”
The BC Liberal government has made slow progress on twinning the highway, with a focus on the section between Kamloops and Chase, and on replacing aging bridges.
At the 2012 UBCM conference, Premier Christy Clark said the province would spend $650 million over 10 years on four-laning the Trans-Canada. Since then, the Ministry of Transportation has replaced the Malakwa, Clanwilliam and Donald Bridges and about another 30 kilometres of work is either underway or in the planning stages.
Claire Trevena, the NDP transportation critic, said the Liberals are moving too slowly on the Trans-Canada.
“Highway 1 is a vital corridor in B.C., but at the rate that Christy Clark is going at, it will take her government 70 years to complete it,” she said in a news release. “The Christy Clark government is notorious for dragging their feet when it comes to rural transportation projects, but John Horgan and a New Democrat government will make four-laning Highway 1 a top priority once elected in 2017.”
