Construction on the twinning of Highway 17 west of Kenora should begin late this fall.
That’s the feeling of Kenora-Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford.
Rickford says a milestone was reached last week after Shoal Lake #39 signed a contract to upgrade portions of their road, Highway 637.
“Getting Shoal Lake #39’s road into their community was as much of a priority for me as it is work on the twinning because we create a ‘centre of gravity’ for work on that end of the highway.”
Four of the other first nations surrounding Kenora also signed an agreement allowing Phase 1 of the twinning project to proceed from the Ontario/Manitoba boundary to the Shoal Lake turn-off.
Rickford notes, “We’ve had an exceptional opportunity and an extraordinary relationship with the Indigenous communities to do in a couple of years what the previous government could not do for over a decade. So I couldn’t be more pleased. I think we’re where we need to be.”
