News Projects Roads & Paving
Tender issued for Trans-Canada Highway upgrades in British Columbia’s Little Shuswap Lake

May 3, 2023, VICTORIA – Tendering has been initiated on the contract for improvements to a 4.3 kilometre stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway between Ford Road and Tappen Valley Road. The $243 million project includes widening the highway from two to four lanes, the construction of frontage roads, and the replacement of the Tappen overpass.

Wider shoulders and the frontage road system aims to safely support cyclists, pedestrians and people using other active modes of transportation, while a new eastbound commercial carrier pullout will be built to support commercial drivers travelling the route.

The contract is expected to be awarded in early summer 2023 and completed by 2026. The initial funding for the project was announced in July 2021, with the British Columbia government providing $161 million and the Government of Canada contributing approximately $82 million.

The goal of the project is to enhance connections within the Little Shuswap Lake community and improve safety access on and off the Trans-Canada Highway, specifically around a stretch of highway running through Skwlāx te Secwepemcúl̓ecw, formerly Little Shuswap Lake Band Indian Reserve #5.

The project is part of a series of improvements planned for the stretch of the Trans-Canada highway connecting Kamloops and the Alberta border. The province of British Columbia has committed $728 million to updating Highway 1 across this stretch over the next three years.