Traffic delays on Athabasca’s east hill on Highway 55 will continue for the next two years.
The construction of a new intersection and bridge will have traffic backed up until it is complete in October 2013. A detour will be built around the construction, but when you come across it you will experience some delays.
“It’s a fairly complex project. It’s going to happen in three phases,” said Alberta Transpiration’s Trent Bancarz. “The first phase is that they are going to build a detour for Highway 55.”
Bancarz stated that until the new bridge is built the old one will remain where it is.
“Just the way everything is set up there, they are going to have to build a bit of a detour for Highway 55 during the construction,” he said. “The second phase involves building a new bridge over the Tawatinaw River; the river is also going to be realigned. There will be a new channel for it.”
A culvert will be installed to help prevent flooding of the intersection and to keep water flowing through the Tawatinaw River.
“Along with the new bridge the highway will be realigned to align with the new bridge and the existing bridge Highway 55 and 813 intersection will be shifted as well,” he explained. “The final thing they are going to do is to remove the existing bridge when the new one is ready.”
The new intersection is a complicated project and has three phases. Alberta Transportation will try to keep traffic moving as best they can.
“That’s partly why they are building the detour. It’s the best way to keep the traffic flowing,” Bancarz said.
Carmacks is the contractor.
“The contract is worth $14.2 million,” Bancarz said.
