Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Infrastructure. I had spoken earlier today about highway safety out on the Ingraham Trail, also known as Highway No. 4. Sadly, we have learned today of another accident out on that road, and it happens to be on the same stretch of road where we had another accident happen there this summer. I personally am very familiar with this stretch of road. I was involved in an accident there myself.
Can the Minister advise, as we enter this busy season, this winter season, it is going to be dark, slippery roads. How is the department managing its highway patrols and maintenance during this time of the year? Ploughing, sanding, and the like? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have talked about this section of road quite a bit in this House. This is one of the busier sections of road in the Northwest Territories, particularly during the resupply of the mines. A number of residents live out that way. We will continue to what we normally do, doing our regular patrols, going forward. I suspect that I would have to get the exact details, but I imagine it is a daily patrol that is done by our department to check on the conditions of this section of highway, as well as maintenance which will be on an as- and when-needed basis. As I have said, this is a very important section of highway and well-travelled in the winter, and we take safety as a number one priority.
Thank you to the Minister. I do commend him and the department for the work that they have done on Ingram Trail in recent years. It is much improved and the best I have seen it, quite frankly, but this particular section of Ingram Trail is repeatedly having accidents. It is a very busy section because there is a boat launch there. On both sides of the boat launch is a steep road with sharp corners.
Will the Minister make a commitment to doing some type of evaluation or assessment of this particular section of the road to see if there is an opportunity to maybe reengineer or maybe realign the road? We are going to do significant work on the boat launch. Maybe this is an opportunity to re-evaluate this whole section of road. Can the Minister make a commitment to doing such an evaluation?
As of this morning, I am not even sure if this is exactly where the highway accident has taken place, but this has been an issue for the Member in the last two or three sittings that we have talked about this section of highway. I can reassure the Member and all residents of the Northwest Territories that the Highway Improvement Safety Plan that the Department of Infrastructure has is guided by the Transportation Association of Canada, and we build all of our highways in the Northwest Territories to this standard. We do routine patrols, like I have said. We get input from residents in the Northwest Territories about concerns, and particularly from the Member on this situation, and we will review all accidents and take them very seriously to see if there is some type of improvement we can do.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can confirm from reports from a constituent, as well as a media source who attended the accident, that the accident was, in fact, on the stretch of road nearby the Prosperous boat launch. I can confirm that.
Again, I am going to strongly encourage that the Minister does take an opportunity to fully evaluate this particular stretch of road, but in the meantime, can the Minister inform the House as to what capital commitments and resources the department is going to put to this stretch of road? What do they have currently in the capital plan to improve this stretch of road? Are guard rails being considered on these two sharp corners in the capital plan? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We have committed $8 million through Bundle 1 of Building Canada Plan on this section of highway, and we continue to spend that. The Member has asked previously in a different sitting about guard rails, and I believe that this particular section of highway is actually getting some guard rails installed in the capital plan. I would have to double-check to verify that because we have so many different projects on the go, but I am almost certain that there are guard rails going in on this section.
As I have said, the department regularly reviews accidents that have happened on the highway, no matter where it is in the NWT, to determine if there are any improvements that will be required, and we will certainly have another look at this section of highway. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
