WATCH ABOVE: It certainly has been a frustrating commute for drivers in east Edmonton the last several years. Vinesh Pratap checks in on the progress.
EDMONTON — It’s slated to be completely open to traffic in October 2016, but there is some relief on the way for Edmonton-area drivers as work progresses on the northeast leg of Anthony Henday Drive.
“We’re probably at 60 to 70 per cent completed on northeast,” said Bill van der Meer, Edmonton ring road project manager with Alberta Transportation. “And basically working, I’d almost describe it as 24/7, double shifting with the contractor, to just keep it on track to get it completed by the fall of 2016.”
With upwards of 1,000 workers on site, van der Meer said 33 of the 47 bridges in the area have been poured. This year’s dry spring and summer have been hugely beneficial to construction crews.
“Less rain has been good,” said van der Meer. “It’s rained a bit in the past two or three weeks, but before that-through May and June and part of July-we had an early start … so that really helped, especially with the road construction part of it.”
And that means good news for drivers; small portions of the project will soon open to make way for the next stages of construction. For example, the 153 Avenue overpass over Anthony Henday Drive will be open to traffic later this summer.
Van der Meer said the same thing will happen at Baseline Road, Wye Road and 17 Street over Sherwood Park Freeway.
“There’s openings all over the place in order to kind of go to the next stage of construction,” he explained.
WATCH: Bird’s-eye view of construction along northeast leg of Anthony Henday Drive from May 2014
As new lanes are built for the Anthony Henday itself, van der Meer said traffic will be detoured onto one side of the new road while construction continues on opposing lanes. That will happen from Whitemud Drive to Yellowhead Trail, van der Meer explained.
“We would need to move traffic onto the new northbound half, two-way traffic, then we would totally construct the new southbound,” he said. “We’re looking at opening that detour in about the next month.
“From a traffic point of view and lane capacity, things will be improving and then when the whole thing opens obviously we’ll have a major, new six-lane divided road.”
While it will still be a construction zone for the next 14 months, the end is near for the four-and-a-half year project. And ver der Meer said things are on schedule for the entire ring road to be open by October 2016.
“It’s going to be pedal to the medal right to the finish,” he said. “It’s been all out. Everybody knew right off the start how big it was and, you know, it’s full speed to get it complete.”
Once open, it’s estimated 30,000 vehicles will use the northeast leg of Anthony Henday Drive every day.
With files from Vinesh Pratap, Global News.
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