Expect delays for the foreseeable future ... as Mile 28 Railway crossing project between Prince Rupert and Terrace goes to the shelf

Escalating costs has put the highly anticipated Mile 28 road crossing
project on the back burner with no date listed as to its return

The prospect of removing the last level rail crossing on Highway 16 will be deferred to some date down the road, with word yesterday that the Ministry of Transportation has suspended its plans to construct an overpass at Mile of Highway 16, a project which would have allowed for the free flow of traffic in a time of growing train schedules and longer trains along the highway corridor.

We first made note of the stalled nature of the project a month ago, with our blog post also tracing some of the history of the proposed road project that would have been most significant highway improvement in the region in years.

The notice of the change in plans and shelving of the ambitious highway project made note of the "escalation of project costs" owing to significant changes to the construction landscape, which according to the Ministry information release have seen the provincial requirement more than double.

The final design is now considered "shelf ready" and will allow for project deliver at a later date (yet to be determined).

In their advisory of Thursday, the Minister of Transportation deflected some of the news of the now deferred project with the announcement of some additional  safety measures along Highway 16.

Scheduled to start this summer, the Transportation Ministry will upgrade guardrails in the Mile 28 area, as well as for new visual cues for drivers along the route, including the introduction of speed reader boards and upgrades to the advance flashing signs.

The suspended nature of the long promised highway improvement, may make for an election issue whenever British Columbians return to the polls provincially.

The highway project was one of the flagship Northwest projects touted by then BC Liberal Transportation Minister Todd Stone back in July of 2015 the changing status of the project could be of some interest to Skeena MLA Ellis Ross who has commented in the past on a number of highway improvements that he would like to see in the Northwest.

You can learn more about Thursday's announcement here.

For more items of note related to Transportation in the region see our Transportation archive page here.

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