Governments of Canada and British Columbia reach funding agreement to replace North Fork Bridge

Canadians, tourists and shipping companies benefit from safe, well-maintained highways and roads. From visiting friends and relatives to getting goods to market, we rely on our highways to support a vibrant and sustainable economy and quality of life, but also to support a thriving tourism industry.

Together, the federal and provincial governments are investing approximately $38 million to build a new four-lane bridge and expand a 3.8 kilometre section of Trans-Canada Highway to four lanes, to ensure a reliable, safe connection on Highway 1 between Sicamous and Revelstoke.

“Through our valuable partnership with the Government of Canada we are able to make priority projects like this one a reality. The North Fork bridge needs replacing to ensure the reliability of the Trans-Canada Highway, as well as to improve safety and provide more capacity. Continuing to advance four-laning projects between Kamloops and Golden is a BC on the Move priority, and this investment is part of the Province’s 10 year, $650 million commitment through to 2022,” said Todd Stone,
B.C. Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.

This section of the Trans-Canada Highway is the primary east-west corridor for goods movement, links communities such as Salmon Arm, Sicamous and Revelstoke, and has heavy tourist traffic in the summer months. These upgrades to the bridge and highway will allow motorists a safe opportunity to pass, which will improve traffic flow and reduce travel times. Work is anticipated to begin summer 2016 and be completed by fall 2018.

The North Fork Bridge, constructed in 1958, over the Perry River is located 40 kilometres west of Revelstoke, has two narrow lanes, low clearance, no shoulders and is nearing the end of its service life. It will be replaced with a new, modern, four-lane structure. Highway 1 will be widened to four lanes with 2.5 metre-wide paved shoulders and rumble strips, and divided with a median barrier along 3.5 kilometres. As well, access on and off the highway will be improved with 1.6 kilometre of new frontage roads and two new protected T-intersections.

The Government of Canada is contributing up to $12,807,407 to this project through the Provincial-Territorial Infrastructure Component – National and Regional Projects (PTIC-NRP). The Province of British Columbia is providing the remaining funding of $25,160,018. The total estimated cost of the project is $37,967,425.