News Release Archive

TRANSPORTATION/COMMUNICATION--MINISTER RESPONDS TO COALITION
  ------------------------------------------------------------
  Coalition for Fairness leader Bill Casey, supported by
  Cumberland County Warden Gerald Read, is proposing a minimum
  two year delay in completion of the Highway 104 Western
  Alignment project--two years during which a serious safety
  issue will continue and worsen on the existing Wentworth
  route Transportation and Communications Minister Richie Mann
  said today.
  
  "This group is opposing the expedited construction schedule
  possible under the public-private partnership. I have asked
  them to propose an alternative that will see the highway
  completed just as quickly, and every one of their
  suggestions would delay construction and require a greater
  public contribution," Mr. Mann said.
  
  Correspondence distributed earlier this week by the
  Coalition for Fairness could not be considered an
  alternative proposal, as the suggestions were based on
  unsubstantiated information and figures "plucked from the
  air," the minister said.
  
  The minister said that negotiations are continuing with
  Atlantic Highways Corporation, and he anticipates work will
  begin this spring, and the highway open before 1998.
  
  -30-
  
  Contact: Public Affairs and communications
           902-424-8687
  
  trp                          Jan. 12, 1996