NLIS 4
September 23, 2005
(Transportation and Works)
 

Minister achieves additions to the national highway system

Tom Rideout, Minister of Transportation and Works, today announced that he has achieved additions to the national highway system, during deliberations with his federal, provincial and territorial counterparts in Calgary, Alberta.

Minister Rideout said: �I am extremely pleased with the outcome of the National Council of Ministers� meeting. We were able to have many roads in our province designated part of the national highway system. This is very significant because those roads will now be eligible for federal funding.�

The provincial roads that have been added to the national highway system are as follows:

  • Pitts Memorial Drive, Route 2, from the Trans Canada Highway to the Port of St. John's;
  • A portion of Portugal Cove Road from the Outer Ring Road to St. John�s International Airport;
  • Route 340 from the Trans Canada Highway to the marine terminal in Lewisporte;
  • Route 350 from the Trans Canada Highway to the Port of Botwood;
  • Lewin Parkway in Corner Brook from the Trans Canada Highway to the Port of Corner Brook;
  • Route 430 from the Trans Canada Highway at Deer Lake to the St. Barbe ferry terminal;
  • The Trans Labrador Highway from the Labrador west boundary to the southern Labrador boundary.

These additions more than double the length of the national highway system in Newfoundland and Labrador, from 955 kilometres to 2,469 kilometres.

�These routes are fundamental to the movement of people and cargo throughout our province,� said the minister. �It is particularly significant that the Trans Labrador Highway has been added because that will connect Labrador to the rest of Canada via the national highway system. Also, the addition of Route 430 helps to complete the connection on the national highway system of the two large land masses that make up our province.�

Minister Rideout said: �For over a year now, I have been in discussions with the federal government regarding the need for increased flexibility in defining the national highway system. This agreement with the federal government is the culmination of those discussions and our province was a leader in bringing that issue forward.

�Our government is committed to the improvement of our province�s highway infrastructure. This agreement will go a long way toward achieving that goal and providing employment opportunities in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. I look forward to working with the federal government toward the achievement of federal-provincial funding agreements that will enable us to enter into joint projects on these roads.�

Minister Rideout said: �This marks a great day in setting a new vision for a national highway system that helps to connect rural Newfoundland and Labrador, and indeed rural Canada, in a way that has not been done before.�

Media contact: Lori Lee Oates, ABC, Communications, (709) 729-3015, 690-8403

2005 09 23                        10:00 a.m.


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