EDMUNDSTON (GNB) – A New Brunswick company has been awarded a contract for the twinning of the Route 2, the Trans-Canada Highway, between Edmundston and the Quebec border.
Restigouche Construction Co. Ltd. of Grand Falls was the successful bidder for the $6.8 million contract.
The work involves grading and paving 2.7 kilometres of Route 2 from the Quebec border to the existing four-lane highway. The tender for the work was issued on June 19 and closed on July 6. Five bids were received.
The provincial government plans for Route 2 to be completely twinned from the Quebec border to the Nova Scotia border by the fall of 2014. Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Claude Williams said the work is essential for economic development in the province.
“Converting all of Route 2 into a four-lane highway is a strategic investment that will improve access to our province by improving traffic flow,” said Williams. “New Brunswick will be more accessible and attractive to companies that want to do business here, and to tourists wishing to visit us.”
Route 2 is part of the National Highway System. About 6,000 vehicles, of which about 30 per cent are trucks, travel the road daily.
“Route 2 is a major artery which runs through our province for 513 kilometres,” Williams said. “This project is important for the people of the Madawaska region, but also for all of New Brunswick as well as Atlantic Canada and Quebec.”
Over the next two years, further work will be tendered to build an underpass and complete interchange connections.
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