Thank you, Madam Chair. The Frank Channel is indeed a priority. We are seeking federal funding on a couple of fronts right now, including working with Transport Canada, and that would be for 75-25 funding. The 25 percent is indeed part of our capital plan that we are talking about right now. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. There is GNWT money being put into the capital budget for this project, and we are hoping that the federal government is going to match it with 75-cent dollars? Is that what I have just heard? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I do not believe that is the case, but I am going to let Mr. Moore just clarify. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Moore.
Thank you, Madam Chair. It's part of our submission that we request the 75 percent up front and in planning the 25 percent, should the 75 percent be successful, so we have it in our allocated capital plan. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Moore. Member for Frame Lake.
Yes. Thanks, Madam Chair. I guess we are putting up the 75-cent dollars, hoping that somebody else is going to come along and match it with 25-cent dollars? Is that what this is about? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I am going to get Mr. Loutitt to answer this.
Thank you, Minister. Deputy Minister Loutitt.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The funding formula would be 25 percent for the Government of the Northwest Territories and 75 percent for Canada. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. I just want to again make my views known to the Minister and to all my colleagues on the other side that, as far as I am concerned, the Frank Channel Bridge, which is a public safety issue, needs to be a priority over the Slave Geological Province road. Thanks, Madam Chair. That is all I have.
Thank you, Member. I will take that as a comment. Committee, we are going to break for a few minutes.
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I will call Committee of the Whole back to order. I have Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I was hoping to get up a little earlier because the Minister was saying "yes" there quite a few times. It might be a little late, now. Anyway, I'd just like to talk a bit about the bridges that are kind of set to go here. In the North here, we always talk about resource development, and one of the things when we talk about resource development is that we have to think about the roads. We have to think about what weights those roads can take. We have to think about the bridges themselves, whether we have a high-load corridor here. In some areas, we don't have that. I would just like to ask the Minister: when it comes to the bridges that we have set to be built, are they going to be open-span to ensure that we have a high-load corridor coming in to the NWT and down the valley and up toward the diamond mines? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Let me use one example. The Frank Channel Bridge has an overhead truss structure, which restricts the transportation of oversized-dimension equipment that is able to get to the territories. Any new bridges that are built in the territories should be open-span. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I know the Hay River Bridge is open-span, but the Buffalo River Bridge does have a canopy over it, and the government did put money into it a few years ago. Can you tell me if there is any indication that that bridge will be looked at in the near future to ensure that it becomes open-span, as well? Because we do have development in the Pine Point area, and I think that it would be prudent to have an open-span system there and going in toward Fort Smith, as well. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I am going to get Mr. Moore to answer that. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Moore.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The Member raises a very good point, and work was recently done at Buffalo. We certainly look at each bridge individually, of course, with respect to its own design and requirements and available budget. In that particular case, it wasn't possible to look at expanding the truss system, but as the Minister mentioned, in other cases, such as Frank Channel, we certainly are looking at that as one of the priorities for a future design. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Moore. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Just looking at the highway reconstruction here, I see we have Highway No. 1. Can the Minister tell me if there is any work slated for between kilometres 0 and 82? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't know what specific area this is, at the moment, so I'm going to defer to Mr. Moore. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Moore.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Not currently, at this time, but we are looking at that, that stretch of Highway No. 1, looking at issues that may occur, widening requirements, geometry. Certainly, inspecting the quality and integrity of the road, that is certainly ongoing. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Moore. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I am pleased to hear that because, from zero to Enterprise, the road is narrow, once you get past Enterprise, there are shoulders there all the way into Yellowknife. I think it's important. It is a main highway coming into the territories, and I think it's important that we do widen that road and possibly even straighten it at certain points. The next, the one highway I see here missing is Highway No. 2, which is from Enterprise to Hay River, and that highway gets a lot of use with large transport vehicles during the winter, due to fuel haul. That road is windy. Has there been any discussion or planning to straighten that road and also widen it? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I am going to get Mr. Moore to answer that.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Moore.
Thank you, Madam Chair. We try to look at all of the highways throughout the territory, including Highway No. 2, looking at areas that we can prioritize our federal funding to. A large part of our investment is certainly federally funded, but Highway No. 2 is not included in that plan at this current time. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Moore. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to talk about Highway No. 3 from kilometre 4 to probably before the bridge. It's a washboard there, and whenever I drive it there, you've got to slow down. I am just wondering if the Minister can tell me what plans there are to work on that road, to ensure that we get that washboard out of there and try to make it so traffic can actually go the speed limit on it. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The department has invested just over $6 million for work to improve Highway No. 3. I am going to defer this to Mr. Moore to speak more specifically about the ruts on the road. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Moore.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Highway No. 3 is certainly a challenge, as the Member notes. There are a number of permafrost challenges on that road that the department is continuously working on. It has also been the subject of some of our research and development. It's probably not well known that the department does research into permafrost resilience on our highways to determine how best to move forward with them, and we have a number of test strips on Highway No. 3 helping us in that regard. However, as the Minister mentioned, there has been significant investment in Highway No. 3; $22.5 million, in fact, will be invested between 2019 and 2024 under the new Building Canada plan. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Moore. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to move on to Highway No. 7. We talk about tourism, and I think that Highway No. 7 is -- I have not driven it for a while, but I do talk to people who are on it. Sometimes, it's not too bad, and other times, she is pretty rough. I am just wondering what is the long-term plan to get that road up to a certain type of facility that can take the bigger trucks and not be beaten up like it has been? I know that there are some pretty bad washboards. There has been some. When you are driving along there, you are doing 80 kilometres an hour, and all of a sudden, you have got to slow down to about 20. I am just wondering what is being done to deal with that highway. I think, if that highway is in fairly good shape, it would encourage tourism, as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Between 2019-2020 and 2023-2024, the Department of Infrastructure will invest $15 million to improvements to Highway No. 7, with federal funding under what's called the new Building Canada plan. This is some of the work. The rehab work is focused on kilometres 20 to 38 and areas where there is severe distress and that require immediate attention, mostly to maintain public safety and operation of the highway. This work includes things like culvert replacement, roadway widening, horizontal/vertical curve move. The department is looking at obtaining some of these permits to get started. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Hay River South.
No further questions. Tshank you.
