Alberta Transportation has announced a truck route study for the Town of Athabasca, much to the satisfaction of local safety route advocate Fred Martin.
The study will assess the need for a safety route around Athabasca and will look at the most accessible, efficient and cost effective route.
“I’m quite excited the study is going to start,” said Martin. “I hope that the public that are interested in the safety of our community and the citizens and the safety of our future children will step up to the plate and try to put their concerns out there so the road can be constructed as soon as possible.”
Alberta Transportation has retained CastleGlen Consultants Inc, who will assess the alternative routes, and recommend the best route.
A committee is being set up and both the town and county have been asked to nominate someone to sit on it.
“The county has named a person already, and the town was going to, but I guess it will be deferred to their next meeting,” he said.
Martin was prompted to start advocating for a safety route in December of 2010.
“I tried to cross the street by the Union Hotel and I just about got run over by a big high boy,” he said.
That incident opened his eyes to how much heavy truck traffic there is traveling through Athabasca.
“I have an idea for a route, but it might not be the best one,” Martin said.
“Somewhere north of Pine Grove Estates, divert traffic from coming south on Highway 813 to southwest, and go over a new bridge upstream from Athabasca and join Range Road 321, providing a north/south alignment on the west side of Athabasca,” Martin states in the solution package he has been handing out.
“This would allow heavy truck traffic to flow through Athabasca without having to turn at Highway 2 and Highway 55.”
According to traffic flow documents from Alberta Transportation, 4.2 per cent of tractor trailers are going south on Highway 2 and east on Highway 55.
Only 0.4 per cent are traveling through to Home Hardware, and 3.3 per cent are traveling west on Highway 2.
“I started to talk to the businesses, and the ones I have spoken to said that as far as they’re concerned, it is not going to affect their business at all because the trucks aren’t stopping enough to buy anything.”
Martin has started an Athabasca Safety Route group on Facebook.
