With spring firmly in place in the region, the provincial transportation and highways ministry is gradually releasing a list of projects it’ll be undertaking along and near Hwy16.
One such project is access improvement and other work at the Savory Rest Area on Hwy16 just west of Endako.
There the ministry says it will spend $2.3 million, chiefly on widening approximately 420 metres of Hwy16.
That’ll be sufficient for an added lane for traffic slowing down to turn left into the rest area, increasing the safety aspect for motorists.
The ministry says work is to be completed this summer but has not yet released a timeline of when the work will start and how long it will take.
Further west, where Hwy16 and Hwy37 South to Kitimat intersect between Thornhill and Terrace, a $9.3 million roundabout is to be completed this summer.
Substantial progress was made last year but the project closed down when winter approached.
The roundabout did open but improved lane directional paint markings, removal of material on its periphery, landscaping and general earthworks are still required.
And in Thornhill along Hwy16 the transportation ministry is advancing plans to spend more than $15 millon on a state-of-the-art weigh scale complex.
A previous weigh scale at the junction of Hwy16 and Hwy37 had to be moved to make room for the roundabout.
“The project is in its early conceptual and development stages. Consultation with Indigenous communities, public and industry will inform the project design and scope, and final budget will be confirmed once this is completed,” indicated a statement from the ministry.
Early planning calls for a parking lot, scale, indoor and outdoor inspection area and construction of left and right turn lanes from Hwy 16 into and out of the new facility.
The federal government is providing $15 million for the project and the province is chipping in an undisclosed amount.