Construction is underway to make nearly $6 million worth of safety improvements to the Highway 17/94 intersection in East Ferris.
Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli made the announcement Friday joined East Ferris Mayor Pauline Rochefort to share the details of the project.
“Safety concerns regarding the intersection here at Highways 17 and 94 that have lingered literally for decades,” said Fedeli. “It’s so gratifying to be part of a government that is making Northern Ontario’s transportation needs, and the safety of Northern roads, a priority.”
This is a project former East Ferris Mayor Bill Vrebosch has said took him two decades of consultations and studies involving the MTO to address the issues of speed and a grade in the main road that makes turning from the side roads onto Highway 17 dangerous.
The successful contractor will be working on grading components over the winter, and the ministry anticipates construction will be completed in fall 2019. Teranorth Construction & Engineering Limited was awarded the contract valued at $5,951,000.
Improvements to the intersection will Include the installation of permanent traffic signals, pavement rehabilitation, including lowering the profile west of the intersection, and drainage improvements.
Vrebosch, now in his first term as a North Bay city councillor, said previously additional turning lanes will be added to the configuration, with the incline being reduced in that hill that Vrebosch likens to an “optical illusion,” for drivers. Numerous motor vehicle accidents and some fatalities have occurred at the intersection, he recalled.
The MTO added the flashing light that currently operates above the intersection during Vrebosch’s tenure as the reeve and later, as mayor. He said that he pushed for a roundabout to be installed, but settled for traffic lights after talks with the MTO.
