The B.C. government has issued a tender for the phase two of the Trans-Canada Highway expansion project through Chase.

Phase two will see 1.6 kilometres of the highway widened from two to four lanes on the northeast section of Chase. It will also include an overpass and exit at Brooke Drive, and improvements on Brooke Drive between the highway and Shuswap Avenue.

Phase one, which will see 3.3 km of highway widened and is much less complex, is worth $25.9 million. The entire four-laning project is worth $260.3 million, which would mean the phase two could be worth as much as $234.4 million once a contract is awarded.

“This project also creates good local jobs and supports an important trade corridor, which will help Canadian businesses and boost the economy,” federal Minister of Employment Carla Qualtrough says in a news release. “It’s great to see advances in this four-laning project near Chase as part of B.C.’s larger initiative to improve traffic flow and safety on Highway 1 from Kamloops to the Alberta border.”

Phase one of the highway widening started last year on west part of Chase. Kamloops-based Dawson Civil Limited is doing that construction.

The government says phase one will be finished in the fall of 2022 and phase two will be built by the fall 2023.

The scope of the project has changed substantially under the B.C. NDP government; it will be less than half of the 12 kilometres of work that was first planned when the project was announced in 2017. While the scope of the project has been reduced, the cost has also gone up from $199 million in 2017 to $260 million as of last May. The B.C. government will pay for $248.2 million of the work and the federal government will pay for $12.1 million.

A virtual flyover of a rendering of the project can be found here.

The tender has been issued for the #ChaseBC Creek West to Chase Creek Bridge section of the Trans-Canada Highway four-laning. Construction begins later this spring.
More details: https://t.co/HY1NXnzb3N#Kamloops #BCHwy1 pic.twitter.com/QqjGjcyrUh

— BC Transportation (@TranBC) April 1, 2021