Thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted to make some general comments. I haven't made comments on this department in a while, it seems. I want to make comments on the bridge, on Highway No. 3, on the airport, and the Kam Lake access road.
With respect to the bridge, Madam Chair, I have been a strong, enthusiastic supporter of this bridge from day one and I know that the Minister has been, as well, from the beginning, supporting this. I think we are very close to seeing the completion of this project, so I am interested in knowing what the latest development is in that area and when we should be expecting to be, or if we are still expecting to be, turning the soil on that this fall.
Highway No. 3, Madam Chair, was in really rough shape five years ago. I spoke in favour of getting that completed for a long time, but I haven't lately because I had received commitments over the years that it is almost close to being finished. But for some reason, I thought that the last part of Highway No. 3 was to be done by this fall. But I think the construction completion date is now next fall. So I'm just wondering if there has been a change in that plan. The last time I drove over that was in December, and we are pretty close to getting it done. There is still the last 30 kilometres or so left. So I'd like to know if there have been any changes to that, or if it has always been that way. I seem to recall that it was going to be done about a year after the last election.
The third one is to do with the Kam Lake access road. I really think that it is becoming an urgent issue that we have to somehow create an access road that bypasses the Old Airport Road. It's becoming really dangerous between 8:30 a.m. or 8:15 a.m. for that 20-minute or 30-minute rush hour in the morning, and in the afternoon it's just bumper to bumper from almost the airport turnoff to the residential area. We had an accident on the other side of the Highway No. 3 turnoff. It has to be difficult for the trucking industry to be operating when they have to wait for a long time to turn off on that road, never mind the safety questions to the drivers of small cars. But for the truck drivers, it's not very convenient for them either. They have to negotiate and sit there and wait for an opportunity to turn, especially in winter months. Maybe during the winter months the department could look at creating a winter road access, at least in the meantime, where the Kam Lake bypass could be, if that came to reality. Maybe we could have a winter road access there in January and February when the truck traffic is at the highest. I realize there are lots of layers of issues involved in this, but the use there is great and it requires action on that road.
My fourth issue has to do with the airport. Last fall, Mr. Chairman, we had lots of discussions about this airport expansion plan and I know that the Minister revisited this plan. A new proposal went out with some amendments. I'd like to know, I guess first of all, what the expansion will look like, and then go from there. Thank you.