November 14, 2014
Manitoba Government Announces Bloodvein First Nation Now Linked to Provincial Road Network by All-season Road
– – –First Community to be Linked through the East Side Transportation Initiative: Minister Robinson
BLOODVEIN FIRST NATION—Bloodvein First Nation residents can now travel by road throughout the year to the rest of the province with the completion of the Bloodvein River Bridge, Aboriginal and Northern Affairs Minister Eric Robinson, minister responsible for the East Side Road Authority, announced here today. To mark this day, Minister Robinson and Ernie Gilroy, CEO of East Side Road Authority, joined Chief Roland Hamilton in Bloodvein First Nation for an official ribbon-cutting ceremony and community celebration.
“Today marks an historic day for the people of Bloodvein First Nation,” said Minister Robinson. “With the completion of the new bridge, residents will now have year-round road access to the provincial road network. This will help to reduce the cost of goods and services, increase access to health and social services, and provide new economic opportunities for the community.”
“Having all-season road access for our community of 1,600 residents means better lives for our residents,” said Chief Hamilton. “Our community has been looking forward to this day for many years and now the dream is a reality. We look forward to continuing to work on the all-season road project to help link our neighbours and to provide jobs for our people.”
“Today’s announcement is a good example of what the all-season road project is all about,” said Gilroy. “Bloodvein is now the first of many communities that will eventually be linked to the rest of the province through the all-season road project. At the same time, the project is also creating hundreds of jobs and training opportunities in one of the most economically disadvantaged regions of our province.”
The Bloodvein River Bridge is located at kilometre 77 on the 156-km, all-season road from PR 304 to Berens River First Nation. The new bridge spans the Bloodvein River and a backwater channel, for an overall span of 66 metres (216 feet) and width of 12 m (39 ft.). Cyr Construction Ltd. undertook the project, valued at approximately $7.9 million. Approximately 30 local residents worked on the project.
To date, four new bridges and approximately 43 km of new road have been constructed on the 156-km, all-season road from PR 304 to Berens River First Nation. Construction of approximately 30 km of all-season road between Bloodvein and Berens River has recently started. Weather permitting, Berens River is anticipated to be connected to the provincial road network in 2019, Minister Robinson said. Farther north, the East Side Road Authority (ESRA) has installed three Acrow panel bridges over the Red Sucker, Mainland and Stevenson rivers. These bridges are helping to extend the length of time that local residents and commercial truckers can use the winter roads.
To date, over 600 job opportunities for local residents have been created for road and bridge projects on the all-season road project, Minister Robinson said. He added this is largely attributable to local hiring requirements in construction tenders that require 30 per cent of total in-scope contract hours be worked by east side residents for road construction and 20 per cent for bridge construction. The ESRA has also entered in community benefits agreements (CBAs) with each of the 13 east side First Nation communities for pre-construction work such as exploratory clearing and aggregate production. To date, the ESRA has invested over $80 million into east side First Nations through CBAs.
For more information, please visit www.eastsideroadauthority.mb.ca or contact 204-945-4900 in Winnipeg or 1-866-356-6355 (toll-free).
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The Province of Manitoba is distributing this release on behalf of the Government of Manitoba and the East Side Road Authority.