St. Stephen, New Brunswick - The Government of Canada and the Province of New Brunswick are partnering to complete the twinning and rehabilitation of Route 1.

“Completing the twinning of Route 1 has been a key infrastructure priority for our government and is important to New Brunswick’s future self-sufficiency,” said Shawn Graham, Premier of New Brunswick. “We are pleased that the federal government recognizes that eliminating this bottleneck will be a positive development for the economics of all four Atlantic provinces.”

The $275 million project includes constructing 27.5 km of new four-lane highway on Route 1 between Murray Road and Pennfield, the rehabilitation of approximately 30 km of existing four-lane highway between Route 7 and Lepreau, major work on bridges at the Digdeguash River and the Magaguadavic River, and three new interchanges at the eastern junction of Route 127, the junction of Route 760 in Bethel, and Manor Road in St. George. Grade separations are planned at the Frye Road Extension, Kerrs Ridge Road, Kelly Road and at Route 770 in St. George, and the interchange at Route 7 will be upgraded.

Work is scheduled to be complete by 2014 at the latest. The federal government has agreed to share 50 per cent of eligible costs with the province, to a maximum of $137.5 million.