BARRHEAD - County of Barrhead councillors hope to persuade Alberta Minister of Transportation Rajan Sawhney to move Highway 769 closer to the top of the province's priority list.
County manager Debbie Oyarzun told councillors that during the Rural Municipalities of Alberta's (RMA) spring conference in mid-March, the municipality might have a chance to speak to the minister, suggesting that if they do, Highway 769 would be a good topic of conversation.
Traditionally, during RMA conferences, provincial ministers make themselves available for meetings with municipalities.
The RMA is an independent association comprising Alberta’s 69 counties and municipal districts. Its purpose is to act as an advocate for issues impacting rural municipalities at the provincial and federal levels.
Earlier in the meeting, infrastructure director Ken Hove said he spoke to Alberta Transportation and highways contractor EMCON regarding the condition of the highway, most notably a bump at the Hamlet of Neerlandia, due to a road patch that had deteriorated.
He added that he spoke to someone in AT who said the contractor would install a road hazard sign until work crews could repair the bump when the weather improved.
Public works manager Travis Wierenga noted EMCON did “grind down the bumps a bit" in the meanwhile.
"He did indicate that it is on the contractor's to-do list once the weather is better," Hove said.
Reeve Doug Drozd added that area residents are circulating a petition to add the highway to the province's three-year road construction plan.
"The petition is for the province to come up with a rehabilitation plan for the highway to address the safety concerns on it," Wierenga clarified. "Safety concerns include two 70 km/h zones, the width and the lack of shoulders on the highway and the cracking."
The zones Wierenga referred to include the church near Barrhead, while the other is near the Hamlet of Neerlandia.
Coun. Paul Properzi noted that the cracking is of particular concern because of the heavy loads, i.e. large grain trucks, that routinely travel the highway.
Coun. Jared Stoik added they are worse when you are on a motorcycle.
"It is really bad," he said. "Some of the cracks are so wide they can swallow your tire if you are not paying attention."
Properzi also suggested they might want to discuss an alternate truck route through Barrhead, noting that Range Road 40 (commonly referred to as Auto Wreckers Road) could be a suitable route.
In early November, there was an accident involving a logging truck and a Pembina Hills School Division (PHSD) school bus where multiple logs came dislodged while the truck was turning right onto Highway 18 from Highway 33, impaling the bus as it was waiting at the lights. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries.
At the subsequent county council meeting, Coun. Bill Lane suggested they needed to upgrade Range Road 40 to create a truck route that avoided the bulk of the town.
Oyarzun recommended that they avoid discussion on a potential truck route and Range Road 40 until council makes a formal decision on the road.
"If that is the direction council eventually decides for Range Road 40, we need to create a business plan for the project, then we can present it to the minister," she said, noting the deadline to ask for the meeting was later that day.
Deputy reeve Marvin Schatz agreed, saying that considering the highway's importance to the county, it would be best to concentrate the discussion on its upgrade.
