From today's T&T
http://22864.vws.magma.ca/index.php?&article_id=10492
Dieppe mayor hopes for upgrades
Friday, January 18, 2013
Times & Transcript
By: Eric Lewis
Transportation minister says Dieppe Boulevard project one of many being considered
Dieppe Mayor Yvon Lapierre is hoping the provincial government will come through with funding to allow for major upgrades to Dieppe Boulevard near Highway 15 in 2013.
Lapierre said an upgrade to that increasingly busy commercial area is Dieppe's number-one infrastructure priority relating to provincially designated highways this year.
'We have been having conversations with personnel from the Department of Transportation and have been having ongoing discussions as well with the minister and we hope to see the project come to fruition,' Lapierre said.
'It's really in the best interest of not only Dieppe, but Moncton on the other side with the expansion that's taking place over there, as well as all of the traffic that's coming in from Shediac. That entire area is getting to be a high traffic area and we hope that the minister will see it our way.' Dieppe budgeted $1.25 million in 2013 in the hope that the province would match that amount for traffic improvements to the designated highway. Lapierre said his city's vision for the project would see the widening of Champlain Street and Dieppe Boulevard where they intersect and the addition of dedicated turn lanes on both sides of Dieppe Boulevard south of the highway overpass, to ease traffic coming in and out of the city in that area.
As far as the two-lane overpass goes, Lapierre is willing to wait on upgrades to it.
'We're trying to maximize the use of that area with limited funds from both sides, from both the province and ourselves.' He said traffic on the overpass is manageable for now.
'Because everything gets plugged up much before the overpass, it makes it look as if the overpass is the issue,' he said.
Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Claude Williams yesterday offered no guarantees that Dieppe Boulevard itself would see upgrades in 2013, but said it is one of many projects the government is considering.
Of the $279.6-million capital budget his department has for 2013-2014, $8.8 million is budgeted for provincial designated highways within municipalities.
Williams said every municipality and rural community in the province was invited to submit their top five priorities for highway projects this year, and his department is now sorting through them. He hopes to be able to announce projects in February.
While he didn't have a total value for the requests, Williams said just the number-one requests from each municipality in the last fiscal year totaled nearly $70 million.
'My guess, just for the first priority (of each municipality and rural community this year) would add up to more than $70 million, and I have $8.8 million (to spend),' he said.
The transportation minister said every request from across the province is legitimate, but he simply doesn't have enough money to do them all.
Earlier this week, Dieppe Centre-Lewisville Liberal MLA Roger Melanson issued a news release asking the Alward government for an update on infrastructure projects in the Harrisville area.
Melanson noted that the area is growing and that safe infrastructure is essential to accommodate increased traffic in the already congested area.
'The Harrisville Boulevard/Dieppe Boulevard overpass project is very important, as it has become the main entrance to Dieppe,' he said. 'It also provides direct access to the Dieppe Industrial Park, the community of Lewisville as well as the Greater Moncton International Airport.' Melanson said the area needs the infra structure now and 'not during an election year.' Williams said yesterday that Melanson is bringing nothing new to the discussion.
'Everybody in the area understands the importance of that infrastructure project,' the minister said.
'As we speak, there is some work going on collaboratively between the City of Moncton, the City of Dieppe and the Department of Transportation. We are still looking at all of the options in that area, what would be the best fit in ter ms of planning. We've got to look at the long term in that growing area.' Once planning is done, design is next and then budgeting will take place. Williams offered no timeline for when a major project in that area might take place.
One project that was announced in December for the area will see the province pave 2.5 kilometres of Highway 15, from the Harrisville/Dieppe boulevard overpass to the railroad crossing.