Quesnel is looking for a formal commitment from the province to move ahead with the Highway 97 North-South Interconnector.
Mayor Ron Paull has sent a letter to the Minister of Transportation and Transit.
“At this time we respectfully ask for your Ministry’s formal commitment to this future project to enable our community to progressively and confidently plan and develop toward a viable and sustainable and safe downtown Quesnel. An announcement to formally place this Highway 97 Interconnector project at Quesnel in the cue by moving it from concept to project would be your government’s best birthday gift in advance of Quesnel’s centennial anniversary, just shy of two years from now, March 21, 2028.”
Paull noted that the project, a half century is the making dating back to the 70’s, continues to be the city’s number one priority.
He says it is needed for resource rich northern BC due to diminishing rail service and increasing highway transport activity.
The last cost estimate for this project, in 2020, was around 320 million dollars.
It includes the replacement of two bridges…the Quesnel River Bridge and the Railway Bridge.
The letter follows a meeting that the Mayor and City Manager Joel McKay had with the Minister Mike Farnworth back in March.
It has also been copied to the MP, MLA, the MLA opposition critic for transportation and the deputy minister and the associate deputy minister.
– Files from George Henderson, My Cariboo Now staff
