Province to drop $34.5M on three northern highway projects

Ontario is investing $34.5 million to improve highway infrastructure in the northeast, the province said in a press release.

Through the Northern Highways Program, the province said it will use the funds to support three projects.

The first is to rehabilitate 30.4 kilometres of Highway 17 from approximately 15 kilometres north of Highway 101 southerly, and 2.2 kilometres of Highway 101 from the Highway 17 junction.

The project would also repair culverts at Speckled Trout Creek and Agawa River Overflow on Highway 17, approximately 85 kilometres south of Highway 101.

The second project is to rehabilitate 15.4 kilometres of Highway 65 south of the Highway 66 junction and replace the Whiskey Jack Creek culvert on Highway 66.

The final project is to replace culverts and a bridge on Highway 560 west of Elk Lake at Unknown Creek, Seven Mile Creek, Six Mile Creek, Tamarac Creek and Lost Lake.

Work on the three projects will begin this spring and is expected to be completed by fall 2017.

The province said the projects are part of the largest infrastructure investment in Ontario's history — about $160 billion over 12 years, which is expected to support 110,000 jobs every year across Ontario.

In 2015, the province announced support for more than 325 road infrastructure projects.