Federal government will chip in on Highway 7 work, PM Stephen Harper says
Feds to fund half the cost to twin 25 kilometres of the highway
Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced today that the federal government will help fund the twinning of Highway 7 from Saskatoon to Delisle.
The federal government will fund half the eligible cost to twin 25 kilometres of Highway 7 to a maximum of $32 million.
Grading work between Saskatoon, and just east of Vanscoy, is scheduled to begin this spring. The project will wrap up by fall 2018.
Premier Brad Wall joined Harper for the announcement at the Saskatoon Highway Repair Depot. Harper entered the room to an applause and shook hands with workers wearing neon orange safety vests and hard hats before he made the announcement.
Wall said twinning Highway 7 is important from the perspective of commerce, but also safety. He said traffic has increased on that stretch of highway by 50 per cent over the past few years.
"It is an important highway from a commercial and economic and exporting point of view, but there is a safety issue there," Wall said.
Harper also appeared at a convention of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities where he responded to questions posed by SARM president Ray Orb.
Orb asked the Prime Minister about how the government will ensure Canada's railways provide good service, considering the issues that arose a year ago when farmers had difficulty moving a bumper crop.
"We're going to continue to watch the situation that is out there right now to ensure we do not return to the same kind of crisis situation we had last year," Harper said.