A number of local roads have been designated a top priority in the 2018 provincial budget.
Whether it’s the planning stages, construction, or design, local dignitaries are pleased to see some of the concerning roads within the MD of Bonnyville being reviewed by the province.
This includes the Fort Kent intersection, which MD council has said time and time again needs to be revisited.
“The Fort Kent intersection is in the planning stage. They see that as a dangerous intersection,” said Bonnyville-Cold Lake MLA Scott Cyr.
Other roads include Hwy. 55 west of Cold Lake, and work on Hwy. 892.
“There is new construction planned for Hwy. 657,” Cyr added. “It’s been a big concern for a lot of people. This is a significant improvement for us. I’ve gotten a lot of complaints about Hwy. 657. I’m glad to see that one moving forward.”
Bonnyville Beach is another area the province will visit in terms of road work.
Although they’re pleased to see so many projects on the province’s radar, the MD is still advocating for the review of the Hwy. 28 and Hwy. 892 intersection.
Cyr said he will “continue to advocate the Ardmore intersection as well.”
“The fact that they’re looking at our area specifically is always Important to see. I have had concerns coming in about all of the highways listed, and I have been forwarding them onto the minister’s office,” expressed Cyr. “This is something we can all agree on, is when it comes to our highway network, we have been forgotten for a long time, and some of these highways need a lot of work.”
Town of Bonnyville Mayor Gene Sobolewski is also pleased to see this area listed as a priority.
“I think it’s a long-time coming. We’ve made a lot of representation to the province, we’ve had a lot of requests to make sure they focus on some of the roads, but other infrastructure as well,” Sobolewski said.
Cyr didn’t notice any major infrastructure projects in our area, and said he had been looking specifically for something in relation to the Bonnyville or Cold Lake hospitals.
However, he said, there were “a lot of things as line items that were very general. It could be they’re hidden inside one of those line items.”
There are a number of projects forging ahead for 2018, including upgrades to the Bonnylodge.
“We do have several significant projects in the area, and the last thing I wanted to see was those projects put on hold. The fact that those are moving forward is also a good thing,” Cyr emphasized. “They earmark these things from year to year. Sometimes something that is fully budgeted for, for whatever reason, the government might change the direction and they could put them back onto a unfunded list.”
When considering the overall provincial budget, MD Reeve Greg Sawchuk described it as “it could have been a lot worse.”
“Overall, it’s okay. I would probably echo what many are saying. The concern is that the long-term outlook, as far as financial debt goes, that’s a big concern,” he continued.
In terms of debt, the province is looking at a deficit of $8.8-billion this year, but that doesn’t mean the Alberta government isn’t borrowing more than that.
In fact, they’re acquiring closer to $11.3-billion in borrowed dollars.
“We also have a total of $54-billion of debt. For a province that had little to no debt before the NDP took over, obviously this can be problematic,” detailed Cyr.
Another concern for the local MLA is the carbon levy being used to offset the deficit.
He explained, “The budget isn’t going to be balanced until 2023. They’re looking at getting help with the carbon tax money being brought in to help alleviate the deficit. Albertans were led to believe that this would be tax neutral. Clearly that’s not the case. The NDP should label this as a TSP. The reason for that, is because they’re calling it a levy, we’re having a tax GST on top of that.”
Sobolewski said, the budget was what he expected overall.
“I’m happy, I just think we need to maintain a course and ensure we don’t get out of control with our debt, but also that we manage to start catching up with our debt.”
