The MLA for Kamloops North says yesterday’s rock slide closing the Yellowhead highway underscores the need for the province to act on highway improvements through the North Thompson.
Peter Milobar says the former Liberal government was inching ahead with steady improvements on the Yellowhead something that is not currently the case.
“So there has been incremental improvements. Everyone in that corridor understands you are not going to four lane the whole the way but they all understand where the most problematic areas are. They were comfortable knowing that there was a year over year over year kind of chipping away at the next biggest problem a couple kilometres at a time. When pressed all the minister could commit to was that they are studying the corridor and sometime by the end of this year they will have a report.
Milobar says that is not good enough noting several dangerous stretches of the highway not to mention yesterday’s rock slide.
“I would suggest the local Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure staff are very well informed of where the problem areas on that corridor are. So it is nothing but a delay tactic frankly. There is no money and there is no plan for any future improvements. The Darfield hill passing lane is probably the last improvements we are going to see on the highway 5 corridor for quite some time.”
He says Transportation minister Claire Trevena is waiting to see if there will be federal funding for the Yellowhead, money Milobar says is not going to come.
