Province confirms $198M for highway rehabilitation, twinning (UPDATE)

The province plans to spend $120 million to continue twinning Highway 11/17 between Thunder Bay and Nipigon.

Earlier this year two contracts were awarded to Terra Nova Contracting to complete the work, a 10.1-kilometre stretch from Stillwater Creek west toward Nipigon and 6.6 additional kilometres eastward from Birch Beach toward Highway 587.

Still another 19.3 kilometres of highway, in two locations, are in the detailed design phase.

The provincial government also plans to spend an additional $78.4 million on highway rehabilitation projects throughout Northwestern Ontario, including the replacement of the Pine River Bridge on Highway 61 and the Pelican River Bridge in Sioux Lookout.

Other projects include replacing the McConnell Creek culvert south of Gull Bay First Nation, a $2.4-million project awarded to GDB Contractors, and replacing the Hastie River and Munro River bridges west of Fort Frances on Highway 613, a $4.7 job being completed by the Sharp Group.

Closer to home the money will be used to repave 13 kilometres of Highway 17 west of the Highway 11/17 junction, at a cost of $6.6 million, and resurfacing another 31 kilometres west of Ignace, a $7.9 contract.

Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle said the money is proof of his government’s commitment to building better roads in Ontario’s North.

Gravelle said the Northern Highways program has reached $560 million in 2015, a good chunk of that to ensure safety between Thunder Bay and Nipigon.

“The bottom line is we have either half the highway between Thunder Bay and Nipigon either under construction or four-laned, which since 2010 I think is quite an achievement.

It’s good news, said Nipigon Mayor Richard Harvey, who thinks once complete, could mean good things for both communities.
Harvey said Nipigon is already a de facto bedroom community for Thunder Bay, with many making the commute on a daily basis.

The highway will make his town even more attractive to those working in Thunder Bay.

“I think that’s a really important thing, because those people who like that fishing, who like that lifestyle can work in Thunder Bay, but they can have that family, that community lifestyle that people love in a smaller community and it’s just so accessible,” Harvey said.

In the short-term, the construction jobs will prove beneficial to both communities, he added. Harvey was also adamant that the route will go through Nipigon, and not skirt the town, still a possibility according to a Ministry of transportation official.

“It would make no practical sense,” Harvey said, adding he’d be the first to lie down in front of the bulldozers should that plan come to fruition.

About 30.2 kilometres of Highway 11/17 have already been twinned, with 19.5 kilometres under construction and awarded and 19.3 kilometres in the design phase.