The province of Newfoundland and Labrador will spend what it says is an “unprecedented” amount of money repairing roads during 2023-24 fiscal year.
Canada’s most easterly province has earmarked US$167 million (CAN$225 million) to help alleviate the effects of climate change that can damage the transportation infrastructure.
Elvis Loveless, the province’s transportation and infrastructure minister, also said that there will be money coming from the central federal Canadian government, according to a report by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
“We believe it’s going to be a good year for the paving industry, contractors, workers,” Loveless noted in an announcement in the provincial capital St. John’s last month.
The announcement comes after some lean years for highways contractors, said Jim Organ, executive director of the Heavy Civil Association of Newfoundland and Labrador. He expects a turnaround in the fortunes of his members as more projects come to tender and tenders are awarded more quickly. Multi-year funding should allow for better planning and productivity and his members are ready.
“The capacity is there for whatever the provincial government decides to bring on with regards to road work, bridge work, culvert work and water and sewer activity for municipalities throughout the province,” said Organ.
Newfoundland’s section of the Trans-Canada Highway will see a lot of the work, including construction of a new interchange at Galway on the Avalon Peninsula, paving from Springdale to Baie Verte junctions and replacement of a culvert near Port aux Basques. A major upgrade is also planned for Pitts Memorial Drive in St. John’s.
Loveless said improvements will also take place on the Northern Peninsula, the road to the town of Terra Nova, the Argentia access road and sections of the Bonavista Peninsula Highway.
In Labrador, officially part of the province and on the Canadian mainland, sections of Northwest River Road – Route 520 – and approaches to Munik Pone Memorial Bridge on Route 500 will be paved.
