Origins
The Minister of Mines and Resources held the first Federal-Provincial Conference regarding the Trans-Canada Highway in December, 1948. With consent from all provinces, the Trans–Canada Highway Act was passed on December 10, 1949. Following this a second Federal-Provincial Conference was held to bring together the final details for the agreement. The Highway Act aims for the completion of the Trans–Canada Highway route by December, 1956. The third Federal-Provincial Conference hold April 25, 1950 saw Ontario, Manitoba, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan and Alberta sign the agreement which provided federal funding for the proposed transcontinental highway. The shortest and most practical routes could be chosen by each province respectively, given that provinces adjacent to one another agree on the meeting locations. The transcontinental hard-surfaced two lane highway was to have pavement widths of 22-foot (6.7 m) and 24-foot (7.3 m); shoulder widths, low gradients and curvature; bridge clearances and sight distances; few railway grade crossings; and be able to bear load capacities of 9 tons an axle. As of 1950, 4,119 mi (6,629 km) have been agreed to. By 1955, the The Trans–Canada Highway program had only seen 4,580 mi (7,371 km) of highway completed in areas outside of Quebec. 1,523 mi (2,451.0 km) of the paved 2,853 miles (4,591.5 km) of the Canadian highway Trans–Canada highway system had been completed by November 1, 1955 to Trans–Canada Highway standards. Premier T.C. Douglas presided over the opening ceremonies on August 21, 1957, opening the 650 km (403.9 mi) Saskatchewan segment of the Trans–Canada Highway
The Special Projects Branch of the Department of Resources and Development administers the Trans–Canada highway Act checking specifications, and prior construction. The contributions from the Dominion Government to the provinces may be up to 50 per cent of the cost of construction approved by the Governor in council. The actual construction is controlled by each Provincial Highway Department respectively. The estimated length of mileage for Saskatchewan is 461 mi (741.9 km) of the total 4,933 mi (7,939 km).
1957 saw the Saskatchewan portion of the Trans–Canada Highway come to completion, the first province to finish their section in Canada. The year 1962 saw the entire Canadian 7,821 km (4,860 mi) highway completed which came to a total expenditure of $1.4 billion (about $18.26 billion today). The last of the highway between Moosomin and Wapella was twinned and opened on November 6, 2008 providing a completely twinned corridor. The total cost of twinning was $217 million with the Canadian government contributing $59 million.
Read more about this topic: Saskatchewan Highway 1
Famous quotes containing the word origins:
“The settlement of America had its origins in the unsettlement of Europe. America came into existence when the European was already so distant from the ancient ideas and ways of his birthplace that the whole span of the Atlantic did not widen the gulf.”
—Lewis Mumford (1895–1990)
“Lucretius
Sings his great theory of natural origins and of wise conduct; Plato
smiling carves dreams, bright cells
Of incorruptible wax to hive the Greek honey.”
—Robinson Jeffers (1887–1962)
“Compare the history of the novel to that of rock ‘n’ roll. Both started out a minority taste, became a mass taste, and then splintered into several subgenres. Both have been the typical cultural expressions of classes and epochs. Both started out aggressively fighting for their share of attention, novels attacking the drama, the tract, and the poem, rock attacking jazz and pop and rolling over classical music.”
—W. T. Lhamon, U.S. educator, critic. “Material Differences,” Deliberate Speed: The Origins of a Cultural Style in the American 1950s, Smithsonian (1990)