Infrastructure tour arrives on North Coast with funding for projects

Transportation Minister Todd Stone
Signed an MOU on funding
for infrastructure items for the
Lax Kw'alaams First Nation on Tuesday

Day Two of Transportation Minister Todd Stone's infrastructure funding tour brought him down the Yellowhead highway with announcements for Prince Rupert, Port Edward and Lax Kw'alaams on Tuesday afternoon.

The first announcement came for Lax Kw'alaams with details of a Memorandum of Understanding with the First Nation community that will set in motion funding for engineering work to pave Tuck Inlet Road, as well as funding for the refurbishment of the Spirit of Lax Kw'alaams ferry which will take place in 2016-17.

As well, Mr. Stone announced that there would be funding in place to provide for additional ferry trips each week between Lax Kw'alaams and Prince Rupert.

Details on the funding which comes through the BC on the Move program can be found here.

Transportation Minister Todd Stone
also had funding announcements
for Prince Rupert and Port Edward on
Tuesday afternoon

From that announcement Mr. Stone was off to meet with Mayor Lee Brain of Prince Rupert to announce the provinces contribution towards a new water supply project, with the province and Federal government contributing 4.4 million dollars towards the project of upgrading the city's water supply lines and dam at Woolworth Lake.

The money that is being dedicated towards the water line project heralds the start of what City Council is calling the
Rebuild Rupert program.

Mr. Brain chose to use his Facebook page to deliver the background to the announcement and the nature of the Rebuild Prince Rupert program.

The water supply issue was flagged by City Council as its highest priority back in February, when it submitted its application for grant funding.

With Port Edward the focus of much of the immediate development when it comes to the proposed LNG terminal at Lelu Island. That community was not left out of today's announcement listings, with Port Edward set to receive 2 million dollars in funding that will be directed towards the Wampler Way bypass road in that community.

Wampler Way is a key component of some of the development plans that Port Edward has been considering over the last few years, some background on that can be found here.

Details on both the Prince Rupert and Port Edward announcements can be reviewed here.

More background on Prince Rupert infrastructure issues can be found from our archive page.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review