OLDS — Four projects are planned to upgrade highways in the Olds and Bowden area, three of which will be undertaken this year, Transportation & Economic Corridors Minister Devin Dreeshen says.
One project is to repave 10 kilometres of Highway 2 from Highway 27 to a point two kilometres south of Highway 2A.
“There's poor, fair and good road conditions and this stretch has just been determined to be in need of repair and that’s why we’ll have it out for tender this spring,” Dreeshen said during an interview with the Albertan.
He said plans call for that project to go out for tender this spring. Completion is expected to occur within the year.
Two other projects near Olds involve replacing sign structures at the Highway 27 overpass at Highway 2.
One is to replace sign structure eastbound on Highway 27. The other is to replace sign structure northbound on Highway 2 at Highway 27.
Those two sign projects are also slated to be completed this year.
The fourth project is a much longer one which isn’t expected to even begin until 2024.
It involves repaving 19 kilometres of Highway 2A from a point one kilometre south of Olds all the way through Olds and Bowden to Highway 587.
“That’ll be a big stretch,” Dreeshen admitted.
“There are certain stretches (in that section of highway) that are in pretty rough shape, and so that’s why we want to make sure that we can make sure that we’re ahead of the game on that repaving,” he said.
Dreeshen said as part of that project, some land has to be bought “so it’ll just take a little bit longer to make sure that we have all that purchased.”
Also, it will take time to do that work through both towns.
That said, Dreeshen predicted once all the approvals for the project have been obtained, it should be completed within the 2024 construction season.
“Overall for the central region, there is $736 million over three years that’s committed for the capital plan,” he said.
