Ball touts N.L. fixed link
Study proposes underground rail link across Strait of Belle Isle
Premier Dwight Ball says a link connecting Labrador to the island of Newfoundland would be a “nation-building” project with benefits for all Canadians.
The premier released a new study Wednesday that found a single underground rail link across the Strait of Belle Isle would cost about $1.7 billion and take 15 years to complete.
Ball compared the potential link to P.E.I.’s Confederation Bridge, which was built in the late 1990s.
“The concept of a fixed link is a nation-building prospect that could potentially have social and economic benefits for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and all Canadians,” he said.
The Strait of Belle Isle is about 18 kilometres at its most narrow point.
The proposed link would offer increased mobility to Labrador’s 27,000 residents and potentially bring more tourism dollars to communities around Yankee Point in Newfoundland, as well as saving travel time for truck drivers crossing from Quebec.
Ball said his government is eager to begin work on a more detailed report that will explore the potential impacts on the tourism sector and food security in the province.
Ball said the province will now look at finding other funding partners for a full feasibility study, and said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was interested in their meeting Tuesday in Ottawa.
Ball is also meeting with Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard to discuss the possibility of cofunding the project.
But Ball stressed further investment in the project will not continue without private sector partnerships.
“This is not a project that will be exclusively borne by the taxpayers of our province,” Ball told a news conference. “It needs to be a strong partnership.”
The design would a single rail line with train cars carrying 197 vehicles in one direction at a time, with a crossing time estimated between 30 and 80 minutes.
The idea of a fixed link has for decades inspired dreams of free-flowing trade, hundreds of jobs and thousands of tourists.
Proponents say a fixed link — like the Chunnel between the U.K. and France, or the North Cape Tunnel in Norway — would unleash economic opportunity.