Alberta Transportation has no plans to develop a truck bypass around the Town of Athabasca that would reduce heavy truck traffic through the downtown core.
However, Alberta Transportation is looking at the possibility of completing a future long-range planning study, said Heather Kazuba, spokesperson for Alberta Transportation.
“We complete a long-range planning study to understand where highway network improvements should be made and why,” she said. “When a planning study is completed, it provides us a 20 to 30--year look as to where network improvements would be in the future.”
Athabasca Mayor Roger Morrill met with Transportation Minister Luke Ouellette on April 13, and one of the topics discussed was a truck bypass.
“As a result of those discussions, Transportation is looking at the possibility of a future long-term planning study, but this is at the very preliminary stage and nothing has been finalized,” said Kazuba.
The study would determine if a bypass is a viable solution to the problem of heavy traffic through Athabasca, and when mitigating measures, such as a bypass, would be implemented.
“When different specific projects might be staged within that long-range plan would be something that would be included inside the plan,” said Kazuba.
Alberta Transportation is aware of the community’s concerns regarding the Highway 2/55 intersection, and the desire to have a bypass around town, said Kazuba.
Although a bypass is not in the foreseeable future, Alberta Transportation has begun adding controls to the intersection.
“A couple of years ago Transportation added a prohibited stopping area, also known as an ‘X’ marking stop box,” said Kazuba. “We added that on the left turn northbound (Highway 2), which we found added relief for very tight turning radius for trucks.”
This spring, Alberta Transportation is adding another prohibited stopping area to the intersection for the left lane westbound, said Kazuba.
“That will provide some additional space for the turning movements of trucks,” she said.
