New Brunswick's transportation minister says he'll ensure the repair of a stretch of Highway 8 near Bathurst where a tragic van crash killed seven Bathurst High School basketball players and their coach's wife last year.

Denis Landry told the legislative assembly on Wednesday that his staff received a copy of an RCMP officer's letter that indicated a problem with the road where the crash happened.

Landry said regardless of what the coroner's inquest into the fatal crash decides, he'll see to it the road is fixed.

"Even if it wouldn't report it, and I'm sure he will, if there's a problem there with the side of the road, I'm telling you it will be fixed," Landry said.

Landry's explanation came after Progressive Conservative MLA Carl Urquhart asked the transportation minister what had became of the RCMP's request.

"When will the people know and when will we know that repairs to especially that stretch of the highway, and other reports from the RCMP, have been looked after?" Urquhart said.

RCMP expert told jury of highway problem

Last week, Cpl. Annie Nielson, an RCMP collision reconstruction expert, told the inquest that there was a five- to six-centimetre drop from the road to the shoulder.

She said the drop may have made it harder for the van's driver to regain control after swerving.

She also said that after a second accident in December 2008, a letter was written to the provincial government advising of the problem.

Nielson first released her report into the deadly Bathurst crash in July, but she explained to the five-person coroner's jury last week some of the other factors that led to the collision between the high school's 15-passenger van and a transport truck.

Nielson told the coroner's jury that the van's all-season tires were worn and improperly inflated.

She said if winter tires had been installed on the van, it would have had better traction in the slippery conditions that led to the accident on Jan. 18, 2008.

The five-person coroner's jury retired on Wednesday afternoon to work on its recommendations to prevent future accidents.