Upgrades to Coquihalla will benefit drivers
The B.C. government announced they will be resurfacing a portion of Highway 5 southbound, approximately six km south of Kamloops between Inks Lake Overpass and Chuwels Mountain Road.
“It hasn't been done for quite a while,” said Kevin Krueger, MLA for Kamloops-South Thompson. “Our government has been very business-like and orderly about getting caught up in road rehabilitation and maintenance. A lot of it hadn't been done in the 1990s.”
Krueger said the stretch of road being paved hasn’t been been resurfaced since 1987.
“All over the province, despite a worldwide recession, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has been steadily catching up,” he said. “It's so important that our government keep up with these things. If you don’t do your maintenance, you have to do a whole lot more rehabilitation. If the road bed itself starts disintegrating, it’s tremendously expensive.”
Work is expected to start in April, and is scheduled to be completed by the end of June. The $2.8-million contract for the project was awarded to Peter’s Bros. Construction of Penticton.
“I think it’s great that (highway projects) have gone on despite a recession and we're able to balance our budget because we stuck to our strong fiscal plan,” said Krueger. “We expect more of the same for the area.”
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