Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today in my Member’s statement I talked about the completion of Highway No. 6. I’d like to ask the Minister of DOT some questions on that. Mr. Speaker, could the Minister tell me what the plan is for addressing the chipseal stage of Highway No. 6 from kilometre 67 to kilometre 90? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I commend the Member for raising the issue on a consistent basis to bring attention to the need for improvement to our infrastructure, and in particular Highway No. 6. We have been working very hard with the Member and the Member’s community to move the project forward. We’ve done a lot of work on Highway No. 6. It needed a lot of work to ensure that the preservation of the road was intact.
We have been working and focusing on the area from Buffalo River to the community of Fort Resolution. We had identified a little over $7 million to do the work on that section of road. We’ve done a lot of work in terms of design. We have done a lot of work focusing on an issue that has challenges and that’s the drainage conditions. I think we’ve resolved a number of these issues. We have, for this coming year, approved for chipsealing, a budget. I don’t have the particulars as to the amount and the actual areas. I could commit to the Member to find that and provide it to him, but I can assure him there will be some chipsealing that will be done on Highway No. 6 this coming season. Thank you.
Thank you. Could the Minister tell me what the plan is for the rest of the highway, the highway that goes from -- they’re planning on chipsealing to Res, not that portion -- but the portion that goes from Little Buffalo River towards Pine Point? Thank you.
Thank you. As we come to the end of the season and the commitment this coming year, we need to focus on the additional stretch of road on Highway No. 6. Highway No. 6 is 90 kilometres long. It’s going to take further investment and we recognize it’s going to be difficult to commit to putting all the dollars in the budget over a short period of time. So we’ve decided that we have to put this in the needs for the upcoming budget or the new budget, the new government, and we have identified that it’s going to need roughly $15 million over the next five years to conclude the work on this road. So that’s something that we’ll be including in the needs. Thank you.
Thank you. Can the Minister place that number into the infrastructure plan for the department, $15 million? Thank you.
Thank you. I can assure the Member that the $15 million requirement is in the needs assessment, the five-year needs assessment. It will be the decision of the next government to ensure that these dollars are indentified and invested into that stretch of road. I can’t commit that that’s going to happen, but as I pointed out to the Member, that’s what it’s going to need and we are aware of that and that’s what we’ve put in our transition documents. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On the chipsealing project this summer, can the Minister direct his staff to work with MACA and the hamlet, try to gain some economies of scale, because the community is planning on doing chipsealing in the community as well this summer. I’m just wondering if this Minister could work with the hamlet and Minister of MACA to complete the chipsealing of the community while they’re chipsealing from Buffalo River. Thank you.
Certainly, Mr. Speaker, it’s our practice to work with communities and in some cases we’ve been able to combine efforts and lower the cost of chipsealing. In some cases we’ve actually stepped in and provided some of the technical expertise that the community was lacking. We’d certainly want to sit down well in advance of this project moving forward, to have that discussion and see if there’s any way that the community can take advantage of the work that’s being done in the area. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
