Over 80 per cent of the $66.5 million Provincial Roads Improvement Program has been tendered and/or awarded.

The Honourable John Hickey, Minister of Transportation and Works, announced today that 60 contracts for road work have been awarded already this summer.

"We are in the process of developing tenders for the remaining $10 million worth of work and we�re addressing it as expeditiously as possible," said Minister Hickey. "This is a record amount of funding and we�re issuing tenders and getting work started earlier than ever before."

Minister Hickey also confirmed that under the Canadian Strategic Infrastructure Fund (CSIF) all 16 contracts have been awarded and five projects have been completed in various locations on the Trans Canada Highway.

The Provincial Government will invest $17 million on construction of Phase III of the Trans Labrador Highway this summer. Two contracts were carried over from 2006 and one has since been completed. A new contract on the Cartwright end of the Trans Labrador Highway has been awarded and one on the Happy Valley-Goose Bay end has been tendered. The Department of Transportation and Works expects to build approximately 60 kilometres of highway this year, with overall completion expected in the fall of 2009. Last month, the Williams Government announced it will invest $15 million to proceed with the first phase of hard-surfacing of the Trans Labrador Highway. These tenders have already been issued and will be awarded shortly.

This is the second year of the Provincial Government�s six-year, $2 billion infrastructure strategy. Investment of $440 million in 2007-08 will generate an estimated 5,700 person-years of employment.

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2007 07 23                                                   9:30 a.m.