The highway widening 42 kilometres east of Revelstoke has been completed.
The Illecillewaet four-planing and break check project included two kilometres of highway widening from two to four lanes and a new median barrier for enhanced safety and to prevent cross-over crashes.
鈥淲ith the completion of the Illecillewaet four-laning project, local residents and commercial drivers will benefit from improved safety and reduced travel time on this important stretch of highway,鈥� said Patrick Weiler, MP for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country on behalf of the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, federal minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities, in a news release. 鈥淲orking with our provincial partners, the Government of Canada is investing in infrastructure projects like this to increase the quality of life for residents, improve the flow of trade, and build more prosperous communities.鈥�
The project also provides a safe location for staging vehicles in the event of a closure and expanded the existing brake-check area to accommodate up to 15 commercial trucks.
鈥淚t鈥檚 exciting to have this important safety improvement project reach completion,鈥� said Rob Fleming, B.C.鈥檚 minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, in a news release. 鈥淭he widening of this segment of Highway 1 and the expansion of the brake-check make this a safer, more reliable drive for everyone from locals, to tourists, to commercial truck drivers carrying goods. This project is a key part of our work to upgrade the Trans-Canada Highway from Kamloops to the Alberta border.鈥�
This was the first of several upgrade projects on the Trans-Canada Highway between Kamloops and Alberta to be built using a Community Benefits Agreement. Community benefits include job and training opportunities for people in the local area and increasing the participation of apprentices and workers traditionally under-represented in the construction trades, such as Indigenous Peoples, women, and people with disabilities.
The project was originally budgeted to cost $62.9 million however, when the contract was awarded in 2019, the cost jumped to $85.2 million. It was paid for by the federal and provincial government.
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