Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today in my Member’s statement I spoke of the reconstruction of Highway No. 6. I have questions for the Minister of Transportation. Mr. Speaker, how much money is being spent on Highway No. 6 for the reconstruction over which period? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, the total investment for Highway No. 6 is $6.9 million over three years and will be focusing on key areas of that portion of road that needs upgrading and reconstruction. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, what should they -- Fort Resolution and people coming into the community on a highway -- see at the end of the reconstruction of Highway No. 6? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the intention of reconstruction of Highway No. 6 is to improve the road base in preparation of having a final chipseal service on the road, and at the end of the project we should expect to have a safer road and certainly a smoother ride for all the travelling public and a very improved link in our transportation system. Thank you.
Beyond the three years that is currently in the infrastructure plan, is there a further timeline for reconstruction activities of Highway No. 6? Is there something planned beyond three years? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the current plan is to have the road reconstructed and chipsealed from, I believe, kilometre 68 to the community. It will, as the Member indicates, require further investment.
Our goal as a department is to do the whole road over the long term. Right now we have not identified the resources to complete the last part of the project, but that is our intention, is to find the resources and bring it forward as part of our capital planning and when the time is appropriate to do so. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mr. Speaker, I don’t want to have the Minister do any speculation, but with the assumption that money will be found to complete Highway No. 6, how long does it normally take to complete the reconstruction of approximately 65 kilometres of highway 100 percent to a chipseal state? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the Member is asking a very difficult question because it really depends on the level of reconstruction and availability of materials and how far the design program has gone. In a lot of cases that we found, very much is dependent on how much resources we can secure for the completion of the road. So there are a number of factors that we have to consider, but the biggest one is being able to attract the dollars that are required to do the final part of this road and that is what we are working on right now. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
