The Houston government has released a $1.6 billion capital budget for the 2023-24 budget year.
The single largest expenditure is nearly half a billion dollars for highway projects — $498.5 million.
The biggest highway projects are:
• Highway 101: twinning from Three Mile Plains to Falmouth, including an aboiteaux
• Highway 102, the Aerotech Connector, which in the past I’ve jokingly referred to as the highway from Barry Dalrymple’s house in Wellington to the airport
• Highway 103: twinning from Ingramport to Hubbards, and the Bridgewater interchange and connector
• Highway 107: Burnside connector
• Highway 014: twinning from Sutherlands River to Antigonish
The budget is also heavy on health expenditures, including:
• $275.1 million towards the redevelopment of the Halifax Infirmary and the Cape Breton Hospital
• $91 million for the construction or redevelopment other hospitals and health care centres around the province
• $57.7 million for the One Person One Record electronic health record program
• $33.2 million for the outpatient facility in Bayers Lake, which will be completed in the budget year
• $43.3 million for other health-related construction projects
Additionally, $240.8 million is allocated for building and renovating schools, of which $40 million is for module units.
Another $97.2 million going towards three residence projects at community colleges, and the Sydney waterfront campus.
Well, at least the government is trying to be upfront about how it plans on lighting our money on fire.
A depressing and total waste of money. What is the point of having highways when the province cannot provide Health Care to the citizens who will drive those highways ?!? The government seems to think it’s ‘opening up’ the province to additional citizenry. Would you move to a province where you could not receive health care ????
Too bad we couldn’t get a few bucks to repair/replace our dilapidated Riverside Dr. in Sydney River Cape Breton. The road has suffered shameful neglect by the Huston as well as previous governments. For some reason, only God knows, this road and many others in our rural area are supposed to be maintained by the Provincial government. In essence Riverside Dr. has not been maintained, and it’s on the Huston Government to do something about it!!. Some not so bright star agreed to such a misaligned and unworkable agreement at the time of Amalgamation? nil bucks for those that use the roads daily but lots of cash for pass throughs. PS: There are moguls on this street that would challenge our Olympians.
I linked to “The $390 million highway dodge” from 2017. It appears that most of these projects announced today were part of that dodge and were to be completed in seven years for $390 million – about $55 million a year. Now it appears a substantial slice of this year’s $498 million is going to those projects – the twinning for Highways 101, 103 and 104 in particular. Looks like some serious delays and/or cost over-runs happening.