Commuters may want to plan ahead before setting off for work or play this summer, after a number of highways within the MD of Bonnyville have been included on a province-wide list of upgrades.
On April 20, the federal and provincial governments announced that they would begin work along some major highways this summer, including four areas within the MD of Bonnyville, as part of a highway improvement plan for the province of Alberta.
“The Government of Canada's investments in trade and transportation infrastructure will build stronger, more effective transportation corridors to regional and international markets and help Canadian business to compete, grow and create more jobs for Canada's middle class,” said Amarjeet Sohi, federal Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, in a release.
Brian Mason, Alberta Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation added, “By working with our federal counterparts, we are able to do even more to improve highways, connect communities and enhance the movement of goods and services across Alberta.”
MD of Bonnyville Transportation and Utilities manager Darcy Zelisko is pleased to see some local roadways make the cut. Highways 41, 55, 657, and the intersection at Highway 660 and 882 will all be seeing some dollars put into them.
These improvements are part of a series of highway projects across the province.
The Alberta Highway Rehabilitation project bundle will see about 228 kilometres of overlay completed at a cost of over $96 million. The federal government has agreed to contribute nearly $46 million in funding for the project, with the provincial government investing about $50 million. Municipal contributions will ring in at $750,000.
In terms of the MD of Bonnyville, this entails overlay of 9.5 kilometres along Highway 41, and 19.7 kilometres of overlay for Highway 657 east of Highway 41.
The second bundle that will impact the area is the Central Alberta Pavement Rehabilitation Project, which includes areas north of Red Deer and south of Cold Lake. Over 166 kilometres of highway repaving will be completed through this initiative, including Highway 55 overlay.
“That is the connector from Highway 892 to the City of Cold Lake… I know that sees a large amount of traffic, especially residential traffic from the workers that live in the Cold Lake area and are heading up that way. That's definitely going to be well received when it's done,” Zelisko noted.
The federal government will support this collection of projects to a tune of about $38 million, while the provincial government will cover $39 million of the cost. Municipalities are paying an estimated $78,000.
“Because the bulk of these projects are overlays there will be delays while they are paving, but they shouldn't be huge delays. These types of projects generally go fairly quickly,” said Zelisko. “Hopefully it will just be typical summer construction traffic, and when it is all said and done we will have some better roads.”
The Highway 660 and Highway 882 intersection will also see some work this year under the Intersection and Reconstruction Project bundle, which includes work on five of Alberta's highway intersections.
The project bundle comes at a cost of over $53 million. Of that, $25 million will be covered by the federal government and the provincial government will fund over $27 million. The local project will see an upgrade to the taper length of the intersection.
Zelisko said as these projects are ongoing, they ask residents to keep a few things in mind.
“They need to be patient, and obey all posted signage, it's there for a reason.”
He continued that all work being done is just a slight inconvenience for years of benefit.
