(JUNEAU) - Representative Peggy Wilson (R-Wrangell) is pleased to report that Greg Halsey-Brandt British Columbia Minister of State in the BC provincial government recently announced his government's intention to perform an overview of Alaska's proposed Bradfield-Iskut road. The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities has a study underway to demonstrate the effects of such a road on the economies of southern Southeast Alaska communities and to an extent the impacts on BC communities including but not limited to Prince Rupert.

The announcement by BC Minister Halsey-Brandt was made while speaking in Juneau at a conference attended by Canadian and Alaskan officials entitled "Alaska Canada Rail Connection - Connecting Resources, Building for the Future." Representative Peggy Wilson, who attended nearly the entire meeting, was pleased at the statement. Although not an agreement to go ahead with the road, it marks an important event for Bradfield Road supporters on both sides of the border. "We now have a statement by a BC governmental official on their intention to do an overview of the proposed road. This is a step in the right direction and gives us hope," said Representative Peggy Wilson.

The cities of Wrangell, Petersburg, Craig and other southeast resource dependent communities are looking to the Bradfield link to bring a boost to their fragile and tenuous economies.

British Columbia provincial legislator Dennis MacKay, of Smithers spoke in favor of both the proposed Alaska Railroad extension and the Bradfield/Iskut road. MacKay, a member of the British Columbia provincial government caucus, represents the BC legislative district that hugs the Southeast Alaska border from north of Hyder to east of Yakutat. He would like to see much more economic interaction between Northwest BC and Southeast Alaska.

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