The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The NDP government will upgrade and resurface the highway between Flin Flon and Bakers Narrows starting next year, bolstering safety on an increasingly busy roadway. Premier Greg Selinger made the announcement while in Flin Flon last week, saying the three-year project will likely cost north of $20 million. 'It's a part of our commitment to infrastructure,' said Premier Selinger. 'People tell us on a regular basis they want to see improved roads, they want to see improved infrastructure.' Set to begin in the spring of 2014, the project will begin with grade realignments and intersection improvements designed to improve safety. This will be followed by grading and then paving of the 21-kilometre stretch of Highway 10. In the end, motorists will notice not only a smoother highway, but one that is likely wider with diminished curves. Flin Flon MLA Clarence Pettersen said the redone section of highway will be 'very similar' to the refurbished segment between Bakers Narrows and Cranberry Portage. 'I'm really happy that the government has stepped up,' said Pettersen, who joined Premier Selinger for the announcement last Tuesday, Oct. 1. 'It's about safety, taking out some curves. The intersections are (also) very important at the north end of Big Island and at the south end, so those will be redone so it's safer.' Pettersen noted that ore trucks from the Lalor and Reed mines will be using the highway on a regular basis, and the road in its current state would be 'really chewed up' by the industrial traffic. While in Flin Flon, Premier Selinger also committed to grading and paving a 16-kilometre stretch of Highway 39 outside Snow Lake. The work will involve the section of highway from six kilometres west of Provincial Road 596 to 10 kilometres east of the same provincial road. Premier Selinger made the announcements at Flin Flon's Harrower Enterprises, which currently has a contract to supply aggregate road base to the provincial government. In front of heavy machinery, Premier Selinger shook hands with manager Rod Harrower, who plans to put in a bid for the upcoming highway work. See 'MLA' on pg. Continued from pg. Premier Selinger noted that Pettersen lobbied hard for the highway work, which was first announced two years ago as an election promise. Through its normal funding programs, the province has also chipped in $124,000 _ half the cost _ to help the City of Flin Flon upgrade several roads and the piping beneath them. That work includes repairing and renewing storm drains, new road base, curbs and asphalt topping along a 100-metre stretch of Oak Avenue. Also included is a renewal of 500 metres of roads with new asphalt along Elm Avenue and Hemlock Drive, Hart Avenue, Windsor Avenue and Balsam Avenue. The Town of Snow Lake gets $25,000 for the paving of a section of Copper Road, following upgrades to utility infrastructure along the street. Word of all of this funding spawned confusion when the official Government of Manitoba news release implausibly claimed the work would 'create hundreds of jobs.' The Reminder was told by a provincial spokesperson that this jobs figure was meant to reference all of the upcoming infrastructure work across the province, not just work in the Flin Flon-Snow Lake area. 'But you are absolutely right _ the way it's written looks like it's just (the) Flin Flon area,' the spokesperson said. As of last Thursday afternoon, two days after the release was issued, no correction had been made. The complete first paragraph read: 'FLIN FLON _ The province will invest in upgrades to roads and bridges in the Flin Flon region that will produce a stronger transportation system, create hundreds of jobs and boost the regional economy, Premier Greg Selinger announced here today.' Premier Selinger said that over the past seven years, the Manitoba government has invested about $340 million in road projects across the northern part of the province.
