Tenders for the first phase of work on the twinning of Highway 17 west of Kenora are going out.
That includes clearing and assembling material for the construction of the new highway.
Kenora-Rainy Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford says we should see some activity soon.
“My understanding is it could be as early as December 1 that there’s actual clearing going on,” says Rickford.
“But we’re really happy involve the Four Winds and Shoal Lake #39. Shoal Lake #39 and the reconstruction of Highway 673 is already underway so there are skills and experience being built out there.”
Rickford is urging the federal government to come to the table and re-commit to funding its portion of the project.
“The previous provincial government walked away from this project and allocated both the federal and provincial portions to other sections of highway twinning in northern Ontario. We made a commitment to start twinning and we look forward to the federal government participating in that exercise.”
Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney made the twinning announcement on Friday afternoon.
