The cost to four lane Highway 1 through the Kicking Horse Canyon, east of Golden, has gone up $151 million.
Transportation Minister Claire Trevana says the total cost is now estimated at $601 million, not the initially estimated $450 million. The Federal Government is contributing up to $215.2 million, while the province is adding the other $385.8 million to the project.
She says $128 million is from an increase in project costs, while $23 million is a re-allocation of interest during construction.
“The price of materials continues to increase and the skilled labour shortage means hiring people is also more expensive,” Trevana said. “Advanced technical work has determined the need for significant changes and upgrades to the design concept. The original $450 million would simply not be enough to provide the needed safety improvements.”
Construction is expected to start next summer, and Trevana says the government is looking for companies to bid on the fourth and final phase of the project.
She says there will be some highway closures for a “few weeks at a time” during construction.
“We’ll have a bypass going south towards Radium Hot Springs and then back up to Highway 1, so we are working with communities about how best to do this, to make sure that work can go as safely as possibly,” Trevena said. “We have an extraordinary difficult section of highway that we are trying to work on.”
She also reiterated that the project will be built using a Community Benefit Agreement, which will cost $35 million, or about 5.8 per cent of the total budget.
“We want to make sure that when we invest in infrastructure, it’s the local people and economies that benefit,” Trevana added. “That’s why Kicking Horse Canyon will be built using a Community Benefits Agreement. About 200 people will be hired over the three construction seasons at Kicking Horse, with a priority on local hiring and for workers who have been underrepresented in the trades.”
The final phase will see 4.8 kilometres through the Kicking Horse Canyon from West Portal to Yoho Bridge expanded to four lanes as well as the installation of a median barrier, snow avalanche and rock fall hazard protection.
