News Release: Ontario Investment in Highway Improvements will Benefit Orillia

For Immediate Release
May 16, 2002

Ontario Investment in Highway Improvements will Benefit Orillia

ORILLIA — The Ontario government will reconstruct and widen Highway 12 between Murphy Road and Westmount Drive in Orillia to improve safety and ease traffic congestion, Transportation Minister Norm Sterling and Simcoe North MPP Garfield Dunlop announced today.

"This $5.9 million project will improve safety, driving conditions and highway operations throughout this area," Sterling said. "The Ontario government is committed to supporting economic development and job creation that will ensure future prosperity."

K. J. Beamish Construction of King City has been awarded this project. The work will include:

• widening Highway 12 to four lanes between Murphy Road and Westmount Drive
• installing traffic signals and left turn lanes at Westridge Blvd./Murphy Road, Monarch Drive, Westmount Drive, and at the Highway 11/12 interchange
• reconstructing the Highway 11/12 interchange including the addition of improved illumination
• constructing sidewalk along the south side of Highway 12 through the interchange area

"The Highway 12 project is welcome news to this community," said Dunlop. "This investment will further local economic development and improve the quality of life for our growing community."

Work is scheduled to start in early June with completion by early next year.

This investment is part of the government's five-year, $20-billion SuperBuild initiative designed to facilitate the largest infrastructure-building program in Ontario's history. Since 1995, the Ontario government has invested about $6.5 billion in highway capital projects.