I can think of a million different roads that could have used this money first. Mosquitoes don't drive. Terrane Metals can pony up and build their own road.

Yea but it helps. This town is dying. Some of you out there might think 'let it die' but we like it here.

This will help ensure that the mine gets built and running.

Hopefully the Mount Milligan mine will come on stream as it will replace the jobs that will be lost within the next couple of years when Kemess shuts down. One up, one down, no net gain in jobs.

Im not familiar with the road in question, presume it would be used for logging etc:, so in that sense it would get some use.

There are only about 7000 people that live in Mackenze and Ft St James so wouldnt think there would be to much driving back and forth.

"Terrane Metals can pony up and build their own road."

-30km of it already has a survey and design payed for by terrane. The road in question is acutally 2 roads. The philip FSR which connects the Rainbow fsr from the fort st james side. The fed $$ will be used to fix up the philip.

It seems like a worthy project to me. People constantly whine when the government 'isn't doing enough' to save small towns like Mackenzie and this would seem to be a step in the right direction.

While it won't bring back the buffalo... but if you live in Fort St James, and you want to see the worlds largest tree crusher, then its a heck of a deal. The fort will have to try and top that if they want to see some two way traffic on that road. This could even be like a classic duel between towns once the road is complete....

PG will have its first real RV circle tour too.

I think it will be $10.75 million well spent. What remains to be seen is if it will be designated, constructed, and maintained as a highway, or will it remain as a resource road, where all traffic should have a two way radio and the ability to change VHFrequencies on the fly. It would not be appropriate for tourists to use a narrow, albeit two lane, road if there will be industrial traffic on it as well.
metalman.

In reference to the Mount Milligan mine project, in case nobody is watching...
The share price today is about $1.56 with huge volume.
Take it for what it is worth,but we NEED this mine badly!
The last announcement on the final federal permit should be out within the next week or ten days.(IMO)
If not before.
That share price should rise substancially if a positive announcemnt comes out.
Considering all that has taken place over the last while,my guess is it's go!
(but do your own due diligence!)

Good question metaman!
As it was explained to me by someone involved,,it would be a year round open road available to everyone for travel back and forth between Mackenzie and the Fort.
Not JUST a resource road for the mine.
But hey...only time will tell!
It will be nice for north/south travel and west to Rupert if they build it right!
Or north to Fort St.John and beyond as well.
As I understand it,Terrane will be delivering their product into Fort St.James out on the north road, so heavy trucks should only be a problem on the last 45 miles or so.
Again,only time will tell.

Andyfreeze, the scenarios you suggest, would potentially see traffic bypassing our fair stinky bowl of a city; not good for service and retail. Good for Ft. St. Jimmie and Mackenzie service and retail though. Thinking about it now, I can envision quite a lot of traffic on this connector.
metalman.

I agree MM.
If they do it right,it could be a very popular road and quite scenic, even though it will be gravel for a while.
It is not that far anyway so the gravel is not a big deal.
It may be hard on whindshields!
They starting putting down calcium of the the north road out of FSJ a while back and that really helps pack it down and eliminate dust.
And somehow,I don't think by-passing aromatic old PG will upset a lot of travellers!

I can't see a ton of recreational traffic using this road until the mine has run its course. They will keep it all gravel until the hauling is done just so they don't have to spend a fortune on repairing it each summer. Also on the other side, the Phillips is a major log haul road too so they won't want to pave that, if ever.

As for traffic by-passing PG, how much traffic coming in from the west and heading north is there really? If you come from the ferry in Prince Rupert and you are headed to Alaska or the Yukon, you are going to take the Cassiar highway instead of the Ft St James-Mackenzie connector. Most traffic comes from the south or in from the east I would think.

Opening up the interior infrastructure is great news. I hope they proceed with the propsed loop from Purden to Barkerville as well. Like the airport, there will always be cost complainers on these projects, and sometimes they have a point.
But infrastructure spending in our area is
about the only thing government can do to further economic growth up here.The private sector needs to take it to the next level. People have complained for years about all the resouces money being sucked from the north to enhance the south. Its payback time.

I might be mistaken, but it is the Nation FSR that runs through to FSJ now, not the Philips. Or is there another way through?