350 kilometres worth of paving projects planned for northern B.C.

PRINCE GEORGE — Crews will be busy paving stretches of highway in northern B.C. this summer – 350 kilometres worth to be exact.

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure say some of those projects include ones in the Prince George area, including:

• Highway 16 (east of Prince George) – 11 kilometres of asphalt resurfacing on Highway 16 from Old Cariboo Highway to Giscome Road and 16 kilometres of intermittent asphalt resurfacing on Upper Fraser Road. Work is set to begin in summer and is expected to be complete by late September 2021. Work will take place Monday to Saturday. Drivers can expect single-lane alternating traffic during periods of active work with maximum 20-minute delays.
• Highways 16 and 97 (east and south of Prince George) – 34.5 kilometres of hot-in-place resurfacing on Highway 16 from Tabor Mountain to Bowron River and 16.6 kilometres of -in-place resurfacing on Highway 97 from Regional Boundary to Stone Creek Bridge and Red Rock to Old Cariboo. Work is set to begin in early summer 2021 and is estimated to be completed by late September 2021.
• Other areas of work include:
• Highway 27 and Tachie Road (north of Vanderhoof) – 29 kilometres of asphalt resurfacing on Tachie Road and 2.6 kilometres of asphalt surfacing on Highway 27 through Fort St James. Drivers can expect single-lane alternating traffic during periods of active work with maximum 20-minute delays on Tachie Road and maximum 10-minute delays on Highway 27.
• Highway 16 (east of McBride) – 22.5 kilometres of asphalt resurfacing on Highway 16 from Laing Road to Lee Road. Work is set to begin in mid-summer and is estimated to be complete by mid-September 2021. Drivers can expect single-lane alternating traffic during periods of active work with maximum 20-minute delays.
• Highway 29 (south of Chetwynd) – 46 kilometres of sealcoat resurfacing on Highway 29 from Sukunka Forest Service Road to Bullmoose Flats Bridge. Work is set to begin in summer and is expected to be complete by mid-September 2021. Drivers can expect single-lane alternating traffic with pilot car-assisted traffic control.
• Another project is Highway 97 west of Chetwynd from Mount Solitude to Stone Creek. Work is set to begin in early summer and is expected to be complete by mid-August 2021. Work will take place six days a week, 12 hours a day. Drivers can expect single-lane alternating traffic during this time. In total, 55 kilometres of highway will be resurfaced using hot-in-place resurfacing.

Almost $42 million is being invested in highway resurfacing, and nearly $11 million is being spent on side road improvements in the northern region in 2021.