Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The Minister of Transportation and I have many debates and discussions over Highway No. 7 and I’d like to continue that once again.
This fall he had indicated that there was an engineering study done on Highway No. 7, some samplings of geotechnical work. I just want to know the results of it and was there a report that was completed on that. Mahsi cho.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is right; we have had a lot of discussion on this issue and I’m surprised he’s back requesting information again, with a little more drama this time. Mr. Speaker, we have budgeted $12 million for a three-year period for Highway No. 7. We have done a lot of the work that we have indicated. There is still a lot of work that has to be done. Some of the geo-assessments have been done. The survey work has been done for the most part. We can provide that to the Member in writing. I believe we had this same discussion when we dealt with our capital budget, Mr. Speaker.
He had indicated that the engineering study was completed. I was just wondering how much additional work was pinpointed by that study and which areas would be worked on this year. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, as the Member knows, the Highway No. 7 is at the point of its life where it needs to be totally reconstructed. That is going to cost roughly $250 million or close to that amount. Mr. Speaker, we have identified several areas that we’re going to be working on and focusing on this year. There is some work that’s going to be done at kilometre 76 to develop a quarry, we’re going to be doing some work from kilometres 20 to 37, and doing some embankment investigation and some construction at kilometre 170. Those are the areas that we have targeted for this year. I think, Mr. Speaker, there are some areas that will be carried over from last year that we have to also accommodate in this year’s construction season. Thank you.
Then the answer is easy: we just have to request $250 million from the capital planning process. Just moving forward, though, Mr. Speaker, I know that the residents of Fort Liard and Fort Simpson travel quite a bit in between. I would like to thank him for the update on the plans; however, the section from the B.C. border to Fort Liard is something that the Fort Liard residents are really interested in chipsealing or else some other alternative methods. Are there any plans to look at that? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we certainly can look at the condition of the road and provide what was targeted for investment for that section. Mr. Speaker, in the Member’s statement he indicated that there were bathtub-sized holes in the road. He forgets I also drive on that road on occasion and I have never seen a bathtub-sized pothole on Highway No. 7. That’s not to say that it has its challenges, especially in the spring, and we’re probably going to be hearing a lot more as we move into the spring thaw and the condition of this road deteriorates and we have huge issues. It’s going to warrant further investment.
The B.C. government has earmarked some dollars for their section of the road. They, of course, are investing in the road because of the forestry development that’s happening in their area and also the oil and gas exploration that’s happening on the B.C. side. We don’t have that to encourage us or to convince our federal counterparts for investment, so it’s difficult. The Member is indicating he would want to request $250 million. He’d have to get in line as there’s a very limited budget we have of capital and huge needs. It’s a challenging situation that we’re in. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Just in terms of chipsealing, will the Minister and his department consider a chipsealing project if the municipality of Fort Liard actually moves towards chipsealing their main street? They may have a plan for this summer and an opportunity, because the chipsealing machine will be there to do some of the highway towards the B.C. border at that time. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we always try to take the opportunity, when the equipment is in the area, to work with communities to provide them with the information of what work will be done and what we can accommodate while the machine and equipment has the opportunity to do some chipsealing. Our intention, of course, is to try to get the whole road reconstructed first and then provide chipsealing. We are also focusing to do that in other areas of the NWT, but just to find adequate resources to reconstruct some of these roads is proving very challenging and it may take some time.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
