Highway 1 surface improvements begins

April 14, 2010

KAMLOOPS – Sections of Highway 1 will get a boost with surface improvements, creating a smoother road for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians.

Highway 1 between Sagebrush Overpass to Vicars Road, as well as Orchards Walk to Kokanee Way will undergo hot-in-place recycling of outside lanes, improving the smoothness and longevity of the roadbed.

“Not only is hot-in-place recycling an effective way to smooth out the lanes, it is also much better for the environment,” says Kamloops-South Thompson MLA Kevin Krueger. “Smoothing out these sections makes it more comfortable and safer for our residential, tourist and commercial traffic.”

“I’m pleased that this project is getting underway to improve the commute for the community and create local jobs,” said Member of Parliament for Kamloops – Thompson – Carbioo Cathy McLeod. “It’s another example of an important community investment under Canada’s Economic Action Plan.”

Improvements made will also reduce maintenance costs by preventing water infiltration and loss of roadbed structural strength.

Hot-in-place recycling reuses materials, thereby reducing the quantity of fossil fuels and emissions that would have been used to extract and process new materials. This method also cuts down greenhouse gas emissions as the need to haul new materials to the work site is greatly reduced.

Green Roads Recycling Ltd. was contracted for this project and is expecting to commence this spring, completing in September, 2010. Daytime single lane alternating traffic will minimize delays to no longer than 20 minutes.

The project is funded under the Province’s three-year, $14-billion capital infrastructure program that will create up to 88,000 jobs and help build vital public infrastructure in every region of B.C. Since October 2008, over $4.4 billion in infrastructure projects have been announced across British Columbia, which are estimated to create more than 28,000 jobs over the life of the projects.

The federal contribution to this project comes from the $4-billion Infrastructure Stimulus Fund, which provides funding to provincial, territorial and municipal construction-ready infrastructure projects. Since March 2009, almost 400 projects have received a total federal investment of over $490 million under the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund across British Columbia.