After a brief respite following the years-long Anthony Henday Drive expansion, drivers who traverse the southwest corner of Edmonton’s ring road should prepare for more major road work.
The Terwillegar Drive expansion is moving into Stage 3 of construction, which focuses on expanding the existing interchange over the Henday over the next two years.
It’s a major part of the Terwillegar Drive expressway expansion that began in the spring of 2021.
Phase 3 includes the following:
- A new northbound bridge over Anthony Henday Drive
- Repurposing the existing bridge for southbound traffic over the Henday
- Transforming the overpass into a partial cloverleaf interchange: Two new loop ramps to allow for free-flow traffic from southbound Terwillegar to eastbound Henday and northbound Terwillegar to westbound Henday
- Terwillegar Drive upgrades with three lanes in both directions
- A new pedestrian/cyclist bridge connecting the Windermere and Haddow neighbourhoods
- Corridor upgrades, including the intersection at Windermere Boulevard
- Widening of Terwillegar Drive and 170 Street from south of Haddow Drive to south of Windermere Boulevard to three southbound lanes, four northbound lanes and one dedicated transit lane in each direction
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The city said two lanes of traffic on Terwillegar Drive will be maintained in each direction during construction, but short-term daytime and occasional nighttime lane closures may be required.
There will also be impacts to the Henday, such as lane closures and speed reductions.
The city said sections of the south end of Terwillegar Drive approaching Windermere Boulevard, both northbound and southbound, will at times have lane reductions due to the construction work.
The work at Windermere Boulevard is being prioritized and accelerated, the city said. At the same time, a private developer is widening 170 Street south of Windermere Boulevard. That construction is expected to be complete this fall.
The project has been done in stages.
Stage 1, finished in 2024, included widening Terwillegar Drive between Haddow and Whitemud drives, adding a multi-use pathway and new landscaping.
Stage 2, which is still underway at the north end of the project, where Terwillegar intersects with Whitemud Drive.
That work includes widening the Rainbow Valley Bridges and adding two new pedestrian bridges: one alongside Rainbow Valley as well as a north-south 142 Street overpass linking the neighbourhoods of Brookside and Bulyea Heights.
Construction began in the summer of 2023 and is expected to wrap up this year, with some landscaping being finished next year.
The six-kilometre expressway project is expected to be finished in 2028.
The city was initially planning in 2017 to expand the road into a freeway, as the road was built in the 1980s with future free-flow in mind.
However as the estimate cost exceeded $1 billion, city council in 2018 scaled back the plan to an expressway with the existing light-controlled intersections remaining in place.
Will there be any widening of the bike lanes.
Everyone involved in construction planning at City Hall needs to get fired. Absolute garbage year after year.