Edmonton drivers, the end is finally in sight — but first, there will be even more major traffic backlogs on the southwest leg of Anthony Henday Drive.
For three years, drivers have endured extensive construction on the busy stretch of the city’s ring road and for the next month, it will get even worse — but Alberta Transportation said that will be the last major disruption before the expansion project is, for the most part, complete.
Construction has been ongoing since 2020 to widen each bridge deck over the North Saskatchewan River from two to three lanes of traffic, as part of the overall much-needed widening of the southwest leg.
Several times in the past year, the province — which is responsible for the freeway — and construction contractor Carmacks have closed one deck at a time on the weekend.
Starting Friday, however, there will be two-week-long closures on either side of the road.
The province said the two-week closures are for getting the final support structures in place, pouring the new bridge decks and final paving.
As of 10 p.m. Friday, the westbound bridge will close for two weeks. Immediately after, starting July 7, Alberta Transportation said the eastbound bridge will close for an additional two weeks.
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That means all traffic will be rerouted to the opposite bridge — flowing one lane in each direction — and the speed limit will be reduced to 60 km/h.
That bottleneck is expected to cause significant delays on the freeway and drivers in the city are advised to take other routes such as Whitemud Drive.
Oversized and overweight trucker loads will not be permitted to use the Henday during the weekend closures, the province said.
Those looking to bypass the city can also take Highway 60 through Devon, although similar bridge deck rehabilitation work has been ongoing there since last summer as well, and one of those bridges is also flowing in one lane of traffic in each direction.
This past week, crews have been seen removing fencing and moving concrete barricades in anticipation of construction work.
Alberta Transportation said after that month of closures, the bridge work should be complete.
The project is a year behind schedule but the province said the entire southwest Henday widening project — from Gateway Boulevard to Whitemud Drive — is on track to be complete by September.
The Henday was originally designed to meet traffic capacity requirements through 2020 with a plan to accommodate up to 40,000 vehicles per day.
The entire ring road took 26 years to build, and as it grew, so too did the surrounding neighbourhoods.
That initial capacity in southwest Edmonton was surpassed in 2009 and by 2020, traffic volumes averaged 80,000 vehicles per day, according to Carmacks.
Work to expand an 18-kilometre stretch between Calgary Trail and Whitemud Drive began in 2020.
Adding an extra lane in each direction is expected to accommodate up to 120,000 vehicles per day.
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