POOLES CORNER, P.E.I. - The federal and provincial governments announced a combined $3.5-million investment in rural roadways on Friday.
Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay held a press conference at Kaylee Hall in Pooles Corner to make the announcement, but most of his speech was drowned out by more than 100 dairy farmers who showed up to protest the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
Still, the announcement was made.
It’s a series of road improvements as part of the 2018 Collector Roads Bundle Project. Work includes improvements along 16 of the province’s national roads and community connectors.
The federal government is contributing up to $1,776,304 towards this project, representing 50 per cent of total eligible project costs. The province will provide the remainder of the funding.
Work includes resurfacing, shouldering and improving culvert structures at 16 locations across P.E.I.
“Our roads, bridges and communities and other infrastructure programs are the backbone of our economy,’’ said MacAulay.
Paula Biggar, P.E.I.’s minister of transportation, infrastructure and energy, said the project covers rural roads that weren’t covered before.
“This year alone on roads and bridges in this construction season we’ve spent over $40 million right across P.E.I., and that is part of our 50-50 funding, so it’s made a phenomenal difference in what we can do right across P.E.I.,’’ Biggar told The Guardian.
“We’ve stretched it out so that everybody gets a piece of the pie as much as possible.’’
All of the projects are either complete or in the process of being finished.
The work includes expanding an intersection on Heatherway Drive in Cornwall to include dedicated left turning lanes from Route 19 and Heatherway Drive on to Route 1. It also involves cold planing and levelling asphalt, installing catch basins and storm sewers and shouldering.
Work also includes replacing the culvert structure running under Route 16, which bisects Black Pond.
The projects also include Route 152 in Montrose, Route 163 in East Bideford, Route 12 in Grand River, Route 107 in Wilmot Valley, Route 106 in Clermont, Route 224 in Wheatley River, Route 19 in New Dominion, Route 21 in Mermaid, Route 4 in Lyndale/Grandview, Route 4 in Commercial Cross, Route 17 in Lower Montague, Route 18 in Murray Harbour, Route 322 in Morell/Green Meadows and Route 16 in Kingsboro.
