There's no accounting for the decisions of government, it doesn't matter which party is in power.
Take for instance the continued delay of paving the rest of Highway 44 past the Westlock County Industrial Park and into the town itself to the junction of 44 and Highway 18.
Spotted with numerous potholes, failing crack fills and any number of various bumps and humps, driving the two-kilometre gauntlet between town and the 38 km of fresh pavement that went in just south of the industrial park last summer has vehicles swerving to avoid the eroded valleys along the way.
The county first brought the issue to the PC government's attention more than five years ago, only to be told it was their industrial traffic that was causing the damage and the proposed turning lanes were for the benefit of the county, so the county would have to pay for the improvement.
Let's not forget that Highway 44 is very much an industrial highway that happens to allow public traffic.
The two levels of government have since come to an agreement to split the cost of the project, but the delay continues.
When county administration met with representatives of Alberta Transportation in 2017 the tentative plan was to repave the section of Highway 44 from Sandy Beach corner north to Township Road 594, about half a kilometre south of the industrial park, in 2017. Then the remaining portion of the highway adjacent to the industrial park to the town boundary would be completed in 2018.
That project was delayed for a year by the NDP government and those 38 km didn't get done until 2018, pushing the rest back until 2019. Then, soon after that sizable job was done, the county was informed the project may be held off until 2022.
We're not the only ones asking the question, "Why didn't they finish the job when they were here?"
The equipment was right there. The workers were right there. For the sake of efficiency if nothing else, get it done. It would have taken a couple days.
The town and county are now in the midst of drafting a letter to the minister of transportation to outline their concerns with the condition of the road and the continued delay, whether it will do any good or not remains to be seen.
We'll see if the UCP government listens or if they're just going to be another bureaucratic bump in the road.
