Road upgrades on the way
Much needed repairs to Highways 1 and 7 expected over the next few years
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Thursday, May 14, 2015
LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
The Deh Cho's highways could be getting some much needed love in the near future. According to Pietro de Bastiani, assistant director of planning, policy and communications with the Department of Transportation, Highway 1 and Highway 7 will be having work done on them over the next few years.
Pietro de Bastiani, assistant director of planning, policy and communications with the Department of Transportation, said Highway 1 and Highway 7 will see improvements in the next few years. He was in Fort Simpson during the GNWT's consulting on transportation meetings. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photo
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Along with other representatives of the GNWT, de Bastiani was in Fort Simpson recently, talking with community members about the government's transportation plans for the region.
During the meeting de Bastiani told residents the government will be repairing drainage issues and problems with the road's base on Highway 1.
"As we complete those repairs then we can chipseal the surface," said de Bastiani, referring to the alternative to asphalt paving which is easy to repair.
Similar improvements will be made to Highway 7, de Bastiani said, although that road is built to a lower standard than Highway 1.
"We're undertaking some significant work on problematic areas," he said. "Eventually we would be looking at putting some chipseal surface on sections of that highway, but mainly dealing with some of the base problems on the highway at this point that require attention."
During the meeting, audience members expressed concern with a lack of specifics provided.
"You haven't given us any timeframe on any of the stuff that matters to us," Kirby Groat said at the meeting.
Much of the work hangs on decisions the new government will make after the fall election, de Bastiani replied.
Current work on Highway 1 and 7 is being done with federal funding negotiated on a year-to-year basis.
"It's a substantial amount of work each year on all of our main highways," said de Bastiani without giving a dollar figure.
At the meeting, Groat also told de Bastiani the work on Highway 7 was starting at the wrong end, toward the British Columbia border and not closer to Fort Simpson. de Bastiani, however, refuted Groat's claims.
"It is not all going on down near the B.C. border," said de Bastiani. "There is work going on closer to Fort Simpson as well."
He said there is a significant amount of traffic between Fort Liard and Fort Nelson, B.C., and part of the Northwest Territories' population needs access to the British Columbian community for medical services among other things.
"We look at he highway in its entirety and as we are able to secure financial resources we go ahead and allocate those to the areas we can make the most substantial improvements to the highway," said de Bastiani.
During the meetings around the territory, he said he heard three consistent themes: improve the current system, expand winter roads to all-weather roads and innovate service and construction techniques.
"People want improvements to the highway system, to the winter roads and in most cases they would like to see the overall system continue to improve to help with their own cost of living to attract tourism and to open up new business and economic opportunities," said de Bastiani.
