A potential location for a new Highway 813 bridge over the Athabasca River was presented to Athabasca town council last Tuesday, but Alberta Transportation – and later, the town itself – refused to acknowledge it.
In his regular report presented to town council last Tuesday, chief administrative officer Doug Topinka referenced a meeting he had with engineers and Alberta Transportation officials regarding alignment of a replacement bridge for Highway 813.
His report included a map of a proposed location.
The map presented to council depicts the north side of the river with a proposed realignment of Highway 813, slightly to the southwest, approximately in line with the current Lions Centennial Park access road.
“The new bridge for Highway 813 has four possibilities, according to a representative of Alberta Transportation,” Topinka told council. “The one they feel is the best is just up the river from the current bridge.”
Topinka said the town would look to have water and sewer run underneath the new bridge to offer utility services on the north side of the river. There would also be a walking path on the bridge to make it safe for pedestrians.
“They also indicated that the old bridge will be removed, as trying to make it safe for any length of time would be excessive,” Topinka’s report said.
He noted to council that the proposed realignment “will have an effect on the area for our new campground.”
But contacted following last Tuesday’s meeting, Alberta Transportation representative Heather Kaszuba said she doesn’t know where the map presented to council came from, and suggested that any discussion of bridge location at this point is premature.
“We are very early on in this process. There are no defined plans or options at this point,” she said.
“There are many steps that would need to occur before Alberta Transportation would select specific options for the bridge relocation for presentation to stakeholders and the public for feedback,” Kaszuba explained. "For example, we need to complete a geotechnical analysis of the area, an historical resource overview, an environmental assessment, land impact assessment, utility assessment, aboriginal community consultation, and safety and risk assessments.”
Alberta Transportation has retained Buckland & Taylor as a consultant to complete a functional planning study and design for the replacement bridge. “Any options that the consultant may have prepared would have been for the use of preliminary discussions,” Kaszuba noted.
She said Alberta Transportation plans to discuss options with the community this summer.
“Alberta Transportation anticipates presenting several options for the bridge relocation to the Town of Athabasca, stakeholders and the public later this summer or early this fall for review and feedback,” Kaszuba said.
Although Topinka could not be reached directly for clarification, town office staff later noted that the map presented to council was “not public knowledge.”
