$1.5B for Newfoundland fixed link: report
A fixed link between Newfoundland and Labrador is feasible but it might cost taxpayers $1.5 billion, a report says.
The independent study, released Monday, looked at building a 20-kilometre link across the Strait of Belle Isle that could, among other things, allow for year-round transportation.
An engineering firm, Hatch Mott MacDonald, considered several options for a fixed link, including some combination of a tunnel and a causeway.
The company concluded that a tunnel bored under the strait, which would have an electric train to carry vehicles, would be safest and cheapest.
It would cost an estimated $1.7 billion to construct â and about $1.4 billion of those funds would have to come from the government in order to lure private sector partners, the report says.
The province's premier, Danny Williams, advocated a fixed link during the 2003 provincial election.
However, he said Monday that he didn't see the construction of a fixed link as "an immediate priority" for his Conservative government.
Williams said several things would have to be in place before any work could begin, including help from the federal government to cover part of the cost.
"I'm serious about it. It's something we intend to pursue," Williams said.
"But I'm certainly not prepared to turn around to the federal government today and ask them for a billion dollars to complete the fixed link. It would be unreasonable at this point in time, given the success we've had with the Atlantic Accord [agreement on offshore-oil royalties]."
The consultants also compared the expense of upgrading ferry service across the strait to building a fixed link.
They concluded that ferry improvements would cost a lot less.