GOVERNMENTS OF CANADA AND SASKATCHEWAN COMPLETE UPGRADE TO NATIONAL HIGHWAY SYSTEM

Ed Komarnicki, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and to the Minister of Labour and Member of Parliament for Souris-Moose Mountain, on behalf of John Baird, Canada's Transport and Infrastructure Minister together with Saskatchewan Highways and Infrastructure Minister Wayne Elhard today announced the completion of the twinning of the Trans-Canada Highway (TCH) in Saskatchewan.

"We are pleased to announce the completion of the twinning of this section of Highway 1," said Baird. "Our Government is committed to working with its partners to identify and to accelerate transportation infrastructure projects that help make our country and our economy stronger."

"The Government of Canada is delivering on its commitment to improve Canada's infrastructure," said Komarnicki. "Today's historic highway completion is another example of what we are doing to put people to work, improve road safety and create long-term community infrastructure."

"In 1957, Saskatchewan was the first province to complete construction of its portion of the two-lane Trans-Canada Highway," Elhard said. "Today, we are the first province in the new west to fully twin this important national highway, which links us to port facilities and major Canadian centres from coast to coast. Twinning this corridor will provide us with more efficient links to our major export markets and enhance motorist safety."

Saskatchewan began the final stage of construction on Highway 1 East which involved completing twinned lanes from near Wapella to east of Moosomin, including a new bypass around Moosomin. These new lanes were opened to traffic on November 6, 2008.

The total cost of twinning Highway 1 was $217 million with $59 million contributed by the Government of Canada through the Canada Strategic Infrastructure Fund (CSIF) and the Strategic Highway Infrastructure Program (SHIP).

For more information on the Canada Strategic Infrastructure Fund, please visit http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/ip-pi/csif-fcis/csif-fcis-eng.html.

For more information on the Strategic Highway Infrastructure Program, please visit http://www.tc.gc.ca/SHIP/menu.htm.

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For more information, contact:

Kirsten Leatherdale
Highways and Infrastructure
Regina
Phone: 306-787-8484
Cell: 306-536-9692

Chris Day
Office of the Minister of Transport,
Infrastructure and Communities
Ottawa
Phone: 613-286-6064

Transport Canada
Ottawa
Phone: 613-993-0055