ARNPRIOR, Ont. — The provincial government will push ahead with the next phase of Hwy. 417 expansion to the west end of Ottawa — along what is known locally as the “killer highway.”

It’s the next step in the government’s overall plan to widen and extend Hwy. 417 to Arnprior. The total cost of the expansion, starting at Panmure Rd. in Ottawa, is estimated at $75 million.

The work will involve widening 4.7 km of what is now Hwy. 17 — between regional roads 29 and 22 — to four lanes. More than half of the 17-km project has been finished, says Ministry of Transportation spokesman Bob Nichols.

He adds construction is likely to start again in the spring and will include constructing the road, two bridges and a wall to reduce noise for homes near Upper Dwyer Hill Rd. The overall expansion into Arnprior is expected to be completed sometime in 2004.

“There have been so many fatalities on that stretch of road, and it has outgrown its capacity for two lanes,” says Dwight Eastman, Ottawa councillor for West Carleton.