Alberta Transportation will upgrade highways in Westlock County this year.
Representatives from the ministry told county council Jan. 24 that paving will get underway on Highway 661, from Highway 776 to the County of Barrhead border this summer.
Michael Botros, regional director of the North Central Region, said he was hoping to get the project tendered and under construction in the next few months.
“We received the tender package so the design is all done and in place,” he said. “Now it’s a matter of getting it on the advertising cycle. It’s going to get slotted in and advertised shortly.”
“The news that 661 is in the works is absolutely a great thing,” said Westlock County reeve Don Savage.
Alberta Transportation infrastructure manager Dean Litke noted that the department is also looking at installing lights at the intersection of Highways 776 and 18.
The roadways have been an issue for council since at least 2015. In March of that year, then-transportation minister Wayne Drysdale informed council that a Highway 661 and 776 design was finished, but since then, there has not been much movement on the issue until recently.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Alberta Transportation was able to note some progress on several of the six items council brought forward to the table.
Highway 44 work
Traffic around the industrial park on Highway 44, south of the Town of Westlock, has been top of mind for the county for at least two years.
Back in 2015, council discussed ways to increase economic growth, while ensuring public safety by either adding a turning lane, or lowering speeds.
Botros said Alberta Transportation looked at reducing the speed limit a couple of years ago but found it wasn’t effective.
Instead, the province decided on a new turning lane. Botros said the design includes the closure of two access points and redesign of one access point.
He added that as soon as the design is done, he would meet with the county about cost sharing.
“If the county was to do the intersection on its own, it would be in excess of $1 million, but realizing the efficiencies and quantities going through, I think there’s opportunities where we can partner with the county and write those costs down, but I haven’t received the design yet.”
He noted that he expected those to be to done in short order so that construction could start later this year.
“What we did compromise on was the installation of some additional signage through the area,” he added.
Litke said construction would start from Township Road 642 near Morinville and move north.
Township Road 590
Savage said council had also been thinking about widening Highway 18 and paving Township Road 590 as a resource road — 590 has been upgraded with an overlay to preserve the infrastructure.
“Is there any chance that anyone would consider paving 590 and keep that heavy traffic out of our communities in Westlock and Clyde too,” he asked. “There is a lot of big loads coming through Westlock here.”
Botros responded that 590 had been talked about for many years.
“Right now, we’re still rationalizing our own highway network,” he said. “We’re not looking at expanding at this point in time and until we get a handle of what some of the strategies are for our corridors, it’s too early to commit to one way or another on the plans for 590.”
However, Coun. Bud Massey’s suggestion of doing a highway swap — the county handing over responsibility of 590 and taking over responsibility and costs for another road — was well received.
“That is something we can have a discussion on in the future,” Botros replied.
Litke added that they would need conversations with neighbouring municipalities.
“One of the things I see is that 590 affects not only the county, but Barrhead County is involved, Thorhild County is involved, so it’s not just a section,” he said. “We would look at it from network conductivity point of view and (have a) multi-jurisdictional discussion.”
The information is a change from what council heard from Drysdale two years ago, who wrote that he would not consider a change of roadway ownership for the route.
Guardrails
Another issue on the county’s list was the narrow wire guardrails on several highways in the region.
“When you put a combine between those wires, there’s enough room for a motorcycle to go in and that’s about it,” Savage said. “The question is, has there been any thought about trying to make the poles a little longer and move the wires further out? It’s a safety thing for Barrhead County and I think for everybody.”
“We have the same in Fawcett, we have the same ones on Highway 18 going to Thorhild,” Coun. Ray Marquette pointed out. “They are closer than the guardrails were.”
Botros said there has been a slight revision to the standard, but it would take time to adjust because the province has to deal with 200 kilometres of cable barrier.
