While $13.6 million was announced in Tuesday’s provincial budget for the College of the North Atlantic’s Motive Centre in Stephenville, MHA John Finn said it is part of money that was previously announced in September 2016.
The Motive Centre is a Centre of Excellence for Heavy Equipment Industrial Trades, which was started in 2017 with the steel framework carried out.
Finn said the money was allocated in this year’s budget because it’s this year that the continuation of the project will take place.
The original announcement was for $18.5 million, with the federal and provincial governments each putting in $9.25 million.
The tender for this year’s work has been let and will be awarded to the winning bidder sometime during the first week of April, and work should start shortly after that, Finn said.
Highway camera
Meanwhile, Finn said he lobbied hard for highway cameras and is proud that in this year’s budget there is one going to be installed somewhere near the intersection of the Hansen Highway and Route 460.
“This is a route that is highly travelled and prone to our winter’s conditions. Now motorists can have a look at the camera and even the plow tracker before venturing out,” he said.
Coun. Mike Tobin, who brought the issue of the highway cameras up at last week’s Stephenville town council meeting, was happy to hear the news because currently there is no camera between west of Corner Brook and Tompkins.
“For some, this is an intersection that is difficult to navigate, so having a camera there will be a big advantage,” he said.
Tobin said it should also help travellers leaving the Bay St. George area to see what the conditions are like before they leave.
Two other cameras, one at Route 330 near Lumsden and the other at Route 430 near Rocky Harbour, were also mentioned in the budget.
