A big paving job being done this fall is good news for residents in the northern part of Westlock County.
By the end of the year, Highway 801 will be paved from Highway 663 south to the Long Island Lake access road, just south of Township Road 634, according to a news release from Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock MLA Ken Kowalski.
“Only extremely bad weather or an Alberta calamity will postpone completion to 2012,” he said.
Westlock County reeve Charles Navratil said he was happy to hear the news, and even happier to see the work get started.
“To my knowledge it’s already going,” he said. “I would think it will be completed in the next couple of weeks.”
Highway 801 has been on the county’s priority list to get paved for several years, with the first phase of the three-phase project completed in 2009 — at that time the highway was paved from Highway 661 north to the Long Island Lake access road.
“We’re really happy it’s getting done,” he said. “It’s a big plus for the area.”
Alberta Transportation awarded the $4.2 million contract to Ledcor late last month.
A total of 12.7 kilometres of the road will be paved at a total cost of $4.2 million. The amount will be paid with provincial funds already set aside.
Navratil said the county’s focus will now shift to lobbying for Highway 661 to be paved into the County of Barrhead. Portions of the highway in both counties are paved, but a large portion is not.
He added that while it is not a top priority, he would also like to see Highway 801 paved all the way north to Cross Lake Provincial Park in the MD of Lesser Slave River.
The thing that’s disappointing is Cross Lake Provincial Park is one of the only provincial parks where it’s not paved right into the park, he said.
Regardless, the current paving project will give better access for most of the ratepayers in the north end of the county.
“That’s a good connection for our farmers coming south, whether they’re coming to Westlock or beyond,” he said.
