Aug. 6, 2010
Highway 91 Interchange Moves to Tender

RICHMOND - Tenders have been called for Highway 91-Nelson Road interchange construction to improve safety, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support economic development, Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Shirley Bond announced today.

"Our government is committed to maintaining and improving British Columbia's highway system," said Bond. "This new interchange will reduce heavy truck traffic on the Westminster Highway west of Nelson Road, and provide direct access from Highway 91 to the Fraser Port industrial area."

"The Province continues to drive the economy forward by funding important infrastructure projects in our community," said Richmond East MLA Linda Reid. "This project is already underway and will ensure that drivers have a safe road to travel on."

"Road and rail infrastructure is a critical supporting part of overall Gateway capacity, said Robin Silvester, Port Metro Vancouver CEO and president. "Today's announcement will reduce traffic congestion and help speed goods to market, while providing transportation benefits to farmers and residents along Westminster Highway and businesses in east Richmond."

"The City of Richmond is a vibrant, growing community," says City of Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie. "With the tremendous growth of industrial traffic in East Richmond, this new interchange will provide better access to an important regional destination and enable the city to make the area safer for agricultural traffic."

The interchange will be built at Nelson Road and Highway 91 to extend Nelson Road north of Westminster Highway to Highway 91. The new interchange will provide an alternate route for traffic using Westminster Highway from Richmond, Highway 99, and Knight Street to the Fraser Port industrial area.

This project is part of British Columbia's busiest-ever highway-construction season. In the South Coast region alone, approximately $1.15 billion has been committed to 134 new and ongoing projects that are estimated to create over 7,000 jobs.

Funding for this project is being cost-shared between the federal and provincial governments, Port Metro Vancouver and the City of Richmond.

The federal contribution 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 throughout British Columbia have received a total federal investment of over $500 million under the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund.

Since October 2008, over $5.3 billion has been committed for accelerated capital projects across British Columbia, which is estimated to generate more than 34,000 construction jobs over the life of the projects.

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