Province releases Plan B properties list

The provincial government has released a list of the properties it has purchased or expropriated to date for the controversial Plan B Trans-Canada Highway realignment project in the Bonshaw area.

The prices paid for the 25 properties range from a low of $500 for a 1.3-acre property to more than $650,000 for the former Encounter Creek site.

Three of the properties were expropriated. Some of those owners haven't been paid yet as they have six month to file a claim for additional compensation.

The list was put together after a request from CBC News more than a month ago.

The realignment project, which will reroute the highway west of Charlottetown and widen the bridge in Bonshaw to three lanes, will cost an estimated $20 million, to be split evenly between the federal and provincial governments.

The province has set aside $2 million for the land purchase this year, and another $2 million next year. The federal government will not share those costs.

Last month, people opposed to the realignment told CBC News they plan to use the government's environmental management strategy to stall the project.

The so-called Plan B protesters had been camping out in New Haven, but RCMP removed them. Soon after, tree harvesters moved in on the grove of hemlock trees the protesters were protecting.

About 200 protesters later held a rally dubbed "the death of democracy" in front of the legislature. Some protesters are still camping out near the construction site.

Opposition leader Olive Crane and Peter Bevan-Baker of the P.E.I. Green Party have both said they believe the controversial project should be scrapped due to environmental concerns.

The provincial government contends the realignment is necessary for safety reasons. The new route, which will straighten the highway through Bonshaw, New Haven and Riverdale, will fix some of the more treacherous sections, officials have said.

The project was announced last December.