South Peace Historical Society

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    • About Dorthea Horton
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  • Table of Contents

    • Part 1: First Nations of the Peace River Region
    • Part 2: The Fur Trade Era
    • Part 3: Transportation and Communication
    • Part 4: Old Timers and the Price of Land
    • Part 5: Dawson Creek: The Story of the Community
    • Part 6: Mysteries, Adventures and Indian Legends
    • Part 7: Arts, Crafts and Recreation
    • Part 8: Agriculture
    • Part 9: Church Histories
    • Part 10: Schools
    • Part 11: Health Care
    • Part 12: Industries and Enterprises
    • Part 13: Policing the Peace
    • Part 14: Pouce Coupe, Rolla, and Other South Peace Communities
    • Part 15: Chetwynd and the Fort St. John Area
    • Part 16: The Alberta Peace
    • Part 17: Natural History of the Peace River Region
    • Part 18: Interviews with Old Timers
    • Part 19: Remembering Our Veterans

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BN03-17: Transportation Minister Looks for Feedback

Recent History 2000-2002

July 12, 2002

DAWSON CREEK — Transportation Minister Judith Reid kicked off her tour of the province to discuss challenges facing her department with stops in the Peace Thursday.

Reid, meeting with elected representatives in Fort St. John and Dawson Creek, outlined problems the province is facing and sought feedback on what options should be considered to meet those challenges.

With a reduction in her department’s budget, yet continuing needs to improve the province’s transportation system, some innovative solutions need to be developed.

“There isn’t enough money in (the transportation budget) to meet our future needs,” Reid said.

“I laid out my budget and what the priorities are — the priorities are safety on the roads and maintaining the infrastructure that we already have,” she said. “But obviously we have need for increase in capacity in different places or there’s been changes in the use of roads so the status quo doesn’t meet the needs any more.”

Reid said improving transportation is imperative to improving the province’s economy.

“Obviously in this area it’s absolutely apparent that you can’t get to your fields, you can’t haul your trucks if you don’t have the transportation network.”

According to information provided by Reid, more than $10 billion in highway improvement needs have been identified by the Ministry of Transportation.

“So the question is what do people want the government to do in order to meet those needs?” Reid said.

Some ideas that have been discussed for road projects include partnerships with businesses, municipalities and the federal government, as well as the possibility of tolls and using different standards.

She said that regional transportation authorities, when they are created, will give people input into such decisions in their areas.

“People believe that we can use our dollars more wisely,” Reid said. “At a time when your dollars are scarce, you have to make sure those dollars are spent absolutely as best as possible.

“This next year in the north here, we’re spending $100 million on the roads and I’m sure there won’t be anyone that says, ‘That’s fine, you can go away now and you don’t have to do anything more.’”

Reid said tolls are unlikely for Northern B.C.

“There’s only certain places in the province where that works — obviously you need high volumes of traffic, so here in the north it’s not going to be a solution for our problems.”

While people have asked Reid about gas taxes, the $730 million the province collects is well below the province’s transportation, which comes in at over $1 billion.

This article is taken from the Peace River Block Daily News, Dawson Creek, with the permission of the publisher. The Daily News retains all rights relating to this material. The information in this article is intended solely for research or general interest purposes.

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