Windshields and Tires delight! Paulson hill to be re-paved
Over a span of five days in the past week the Rossland area hit the public money jackpot with $3.6 million dollars in Federal and provincial spending allocated for Rossland and surrounding areas. Following last Thursday’s announcement of $1.1M for lodge upgrades at Red and the arena roof upgrade project (reported in the Telegraph here), Monday saw another $2.5 million announced for the long-overdue repaving of Highway 3 from the Paulson Summit to the Paulson Bridge.
Windshields and wheel alignments breathed a sigh of relief at news of the upgrade. Anyone who has driven that stretch of road in the last year or two can attest to the ruggedness of that stretch with potholes aplenty.
Announced Monday morning, this joint project between the Province of British Columbia and the federal government encompasses a total of 15 projects at $34.5M. Designed to upgrade highways, bridges and road safety around the province, the money is part of the greater $4 billion federal infrastructure stimulus plan currently underway.
The local cost of that project will be split evenly down the middle by the province and the federal government. While the contract for the work has yet to be awarded, there is hope among area governments that the project will be awarded to A Kootenay/Boundary company, thus providing a significant cash infusion into local economies.
Work on the project could begin as earlier as this summer, with all construction required to be completed and money spent by the project deadline of March 2011.