I was pleased to join with Premier Greg Selinger and The Pas MLA Frank Whitehead to announce that there will once again be major Northern highway construction this summer.

The major work in the North this year is part of the province’s 10-year, $4-billion plan to improve Manitoba’s highways It is also part of our decade long commitment to upgrade Northern highways.

This summer's work includes upgrades to Highways 6, 373,374 and 10 and several provincial roads.

Highway 6 from Thompson to the Paint Lake turnoff is seeing major reconstruction and will be completed this summer.

Highway10 will see another major paving project undertaken in 2010, from The Pas to Highway 282, a distance of 30 kilometres. In addition to the Highway 10 project, Highway 283 west of The Pas will also be paved from west of PTH 10 to PR 282.

Major upgrading will continue to the highways to Cross Lake and Norway House. Highway 373 from Sea Falls to north of Highway 374 in the Norway House/Cross Lake area will see a major grade, base and asphalt-surfacing job

In 2010, the provincial budget for highway and bridge renewal and maintenance is $525 million, up by over 50 per cent since 2006 when Manitoba made a commitment of $4 billion over 10 years for highway capital construction and maintenance.

The capital budget is $366 – million nearly four times what it was in 1999!

As minister of infrastructure and transportation I am proud to be part of our ongoing initiative to upgrade our highways in the North.

The recent announcement was good news for Northern Manitoba.

I look forward to further good news for Northern Manitoba in further highways announcements in the near future.