EDMONTON – A newly twinned 36-kilometre section of Highway 63 will open to traffic on Monday, and by the fall of 2016 , motorists will have also be able to travel a completely divided four-lane roadway between Grassland and Fort McMurray.
Government officials are traveling from both Edmonton and Fort McMurray Friday morning to tour the new stretch of twinned road north of Wandering river, which Parker Hogan, spokesman for Transportation Minister Ric McIver, said is opening earlier than scheduled.
While opening the four-lane portion of highway, Transportation Minister Ric McIver announced the accelerated twinning timeline for the rest of the road.
The complete twinning is an investment of almost $1.1 billion over the next four years, and will include enhancements to Highway 881 over the next six years.
“This is about investing in a region that makes a tremendous contribution to the province’s economy,” said McIver. “This is about investing in Alberta’s future.”
New infrastructure commitments include:
•$778 million for twinning the remaining sections of Highway 63 between Highway 55 and Fort McMurray;
•$158 million to construct passing/climbing lanes and safety rest areas on Highway 881 to improve safety and better accommodate oversize loads;
•$150 million to extend Highway 881 from Anzac to Highway 69 southeast of Fort McMurray to enhance safety; and,
•$10 million to begin a planning study for the long term corridor needs.
By funding these projects through capital markets, the province says the twinning will be complete approximately seven years sooner than expected through ‘pay-as-you-go’ funding methods
The condition of Highway 63 and its status as a two-lane road complemented with passing lanes has been a major source of frustration for many residents and workers commuting to the growing oilsands hub.
Despite provincial promises dating back to 2006 to twin a 240-kilometre stretch of the highway within a decade, progress on actual improvements seemed to move at a glacial pace to the thousands of people who routinely navigate the busy road or have loved ones who drive the route.
That pace became a flash point for anger in April after seven people died in a two-vehicle head-on collision. More than 125 people have died on the highway since 1990. Highway 63 went on to become major issue during the provincial election, with all leaders from all parties promising to make the road a priority.
After the election, Premier Alison Redford appointed PC MLA Mike Allen as a special adviser on Highway 63. The Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo MLA issued a report in June that included 22 recommendations, including proposals to speed up twinning work.
Up until the spring, 33 kilometres of the highway had been twinned since the 2006 announcement.
Construction on the new 36-kilometre stretch of four-lane highway was already in the works and transportation officials said that another 100 kilometres of brush had been cleared to make way for construction.
Wildrose MLA Shayne Saskiw, who compiled a report on the highway with his opposition colleague Drew Barnes, MLA for Cypress-Medicine Hat, said a five-year schedule to complete the twinning was what most people he talked to felt was reasonable.
The province’s 2016 completion date beats that.
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