The County of Grande Prairie is hoping to pick up just under $1 million in funding through the Strategic Transportation Infrastructure Program to help bolster safety for drivers at Highway 43 at Range Road 125.
“At that point, a lot of industrial traffic turns off the highway and goes to the gas plants and they’re finding a lot of near miss and conflict for the motor traffic going towards Dawson Creek,” says Director Of Public Works Dale Van Valkenberg
Van Valkenburg adds some of the $975,000, about half the total price of the project, will be done in partnership with Veresen Midstream, which owns an operation in the area.
He adds while it’s a lot of money, in the long run, it should create a healthy return on investment for taxpayers.
“Because of the expansion within the Veresen forecast, they’re talking about multiple expansions to that gas plant. It’s making the highway safe, the intersection safe and also supporting the expansion which brings more taxes to the county.”
No timeline on when the county expects the money to be confirmed, or denied has been made available.