A study to determine the state of the roads in Westlock County is well underway and should be completed soon.
“We’re well over half completed. I believe the timeline was for September, so that’s not too far away,” said county chief administrative officer Leo Ludwig. “We wanted the results of that report to be completed in time to start working on the 2019 budget and the five-year capital plan and the three-year business plan we are going to be embarking on this fall,”
The county is responsible for 2,188 kilometres of road, which includes 16 kilometres of paved highway, 12 kilometres of oil surfaces, 2,075 kilometres of gravelled roads and 85 kilometres of graded roads.
There is also 803 kilometres of unimproved road allowances and 207 bridges that must be maintained.
“In terms of our assets, roads comprise the largest component. Roads and then bridges, which is all part of the transportation infrastructure. We do have limited availability for funds, so we want to ensure that when we invest funds we are doing it based on the best knowledge of where the most effectiveness and most value will come from that investment.”
The intention of the project is to find the best way to prioritize and allocate funds for road repairs. The county currently sets aside $1.5 million in its capital budget for reconstruction and rehabilitation and another $2.5 million in its operating budget for gravelling, road patching, maintenance and repairs.
Ludwig said he recognizes that many roads have been poorly maintained for decades and it has caught up with the county.
“We’re talking well over 50 years ago that a lot of this infrastructure was built and a lot of our bridges are of that era as well,” he said.
The engineering firm conducting the study must have its report to council before Nov. 5.
At that point the firm is expected to have completed a comprehensive study and report of all the roads in the county, which hasn’t been done since 2001.
The report must identify which roads are in immediate need of repair, which can be set aside for up to five years and roads that can waited on for 10 years.
