ATHABASCA — Every Albertan has two pastimes, complaining about Alberta weather and complaining about Alberta roads, but few roads have a group of protesters.
When the ‘I Can’t Drive Highway 55’ group was started by Karyn Harper it brought the condition of the highway to the attention of NDP MLA Lorne Dach, the transportation critic, who met with Harper and tabled a petition in the Legislature and while that may not be entirely why the project is starting now, it was on the government’s radar already, Harper and others will soon be driving on a smoother road.
"This project was tabled as a resurfacing project in 2020. The approved budget is being maximized to the best of our ability to make this highway surface as good as we can for as long as we can,” said project manager Breanne Leach in an April 12 interview. “Because the budget was never presented as a grading project, this resurfacing will be a great upgrade to the highway’s current condition, making it safer for the motoring public.”
One of the issues is a large section of the road runs through softer land with little to no bedrock, then there is a lot of heavy truck traffic, but the project will not include sub-grade reconstruction as that cost could be five to 10 times the current construction cost Leach explained.
“It is unlikely that this road will be redone as a grading project in the foreseeable future," she said. “But we're going to do our best to make it better for a long period of time."
And that’s the concern for Harper too.
“I’m disappointed it’s not going to be a complete rebuild, especially through the muskeg area east of Highway 827 straight west past John Deere,” Harper said April 13. “I’m doubtful a resurfacing will fix the frost heaves.”
She added she wondered if the petition did the trick, or if it’s a pre-election bid to entice voters to re-elect the current government. Either way, she said she was happy with the UCP government's approval of the project and thanked Dach for tabling the petition last spring.
However, Leach mentioned the new surface has a projected 20-year service life, but there is far more to the project than just resurfacing, she said.
“There is severe crack treatment and repair as well as cold milling, there are guardrail upgrades and access adjustments, there are culvert clean outs and fixes,” said Leach. “We are also adding an isolated turn lane to the eastbound traffic at the intersection of 34th Street (health unit) and Super 8 as well and change the exit strategy on the east side. That's going to be a big upgrade for the most important reason of making this intersection safer for the motoring public."
The turning lane will be for eastbound lane for traffic turning right to enter Cornwall as well as changes to the exit strategy due to a high volume of accidents, Leach said.
“We look forward to sharing further details of the intersection with everyone in the town in May,” she said. “Although it is an upgrade/change, understand that we're doing the safest thing for the people of Athabasca.”
A sentiment Town of Athabasca mayor Rob Balay echoed during a live interview with the Athabasca Advocate April 13.
"So, that (intersection) you can only exit to the east (turning right) coming out of that intersection, there will be no left hand turns from where the health unit is to downtown, that'll be one way traffic that way," said Balay. "If you want to exit to come back downtown you'll have to use the intersection by Canadian Tire or the one by Hunter Motors."
Even though the actual roadwork won’t start until at least June 1, crews are collecting core samples to determine the mix design.
“We evaluate and review the mix design to ensure it is the best mix for this region and meets all Alberta Transportation specification and requirements. This is a fairly large project with over 110,000 tons of asphalt,” said Leach. “We're paving to the junction of Highway 63 and then have a few more add-ons as shown on the location plan."
The westbound truck turnout on the east edge of town will be upgraded and increased by approximately 250 metres, erosion control will be done west of the Super 8 hotel down the hill, concrete will be upgraded through town on Highway 55 as well as Highway 2 to OK Tire, and a lot of signage will be updated as well.
“We’ll never ever close the highway,” she said. “You will always have traffic flow no matter what construction operation is going on. We will work with and communicate with all business owners in town to make sure that they always have access. There will be periods of adjustment, but everything will be short term.”
In her 20 years of working in Alberta Transportation's highway industry, Leach has seen many fundamental processes stay the same, but some things have advanced due to technology and science, especially building roads which need to survive weather from –40 degrees to +30 degrees Celsius.
“There are certain aspects of the technology that have changed a lot and there's certain things that haven't changed at all,” she said. “The processes in the way paving operations are done, are very similar, but how you get to your design, how you test it, what products are being utilized, and how you get to your best solution project outcomes is what’s really grown even just in the last 10 years.
“The bottom line with asphalt is that you have to have good aggregate with the right oil and the right amount of compaction. That's as basic as I can explain it. Our prime contractor NPA, has a great rapport in the paving industry and we are confident they will provide a high quality finished product.”
Leach added she is looking forward to working in the community.
“We are excited to be bringing as much as 100 people to the Town of Athabasca for the summer," she said. "My experiences here so far have been nothing but great. People have been very helpful and informative, and we look forward to fuelling the economy of this bustling, energetic town, and producing a safe highway for everyone."
