The provincial government will be spending $1 million later this year to temporarily upgrade the Olds overpass.
Once the new changes are completed this summer, travellers heading east on Highway 27 will no longer use the current curving off-ramp to enter the northbound lanes of Highway 2.
Instead, a new intersection at the east side of the interchange will allow vehicles to turn left onto a straight ramp that will lead to the northbound Highway 2 lanes.
This change will eliminate current traffic problems caused by vehicles using the same small portion of roadway while entering and exiting Highway 2's northbound lanes beneath the overpass.
And travellers heading westbound on Highway 27 wishing to merge onto the southbound lanes of Highway 2 will no longer use an off-ramp that curves underneath the overpass.
Instead, under the modifications planned for the interchange, those travellers will turn left at a new intersection on the west side of the interchange onto a straight ramp that will lead to Highway 2's southbound lanes.
Construction on the modifications will be completed in conjunction with a paving project on Highway 2.
As for the possibility of construction at the interchange causing delays or off-ramp closures, the construction manager of Alberta Transportation's central region said motorists need not worry.
“Traffic will always have a route through the overpass. We're never going to be closing any roads, per se. Obviously, there will be some delays, as we have to close down some lanes and carry on with the construction work that's required,” said Andy Hudson.
He added the construction this summer is a temporary upgrade.
In the longer term, the government wants to completely rebuild the interchange with a roundabout.
But because of the current financial position of the government, that isn't feasible this year.
A contract had been awarded late last week for the work, but Hudson said until Alberta Transportation verifies bond checks and carries out other due diligence, he couldn't release any information on which company won the tender.
It's up to the contractor to determine the start date of the project.
“It is a very innovative solution that Alberta Transportation has come up with. It's a short-term solution. It's not the final layout of the interchange, but it solves an awful lot of problems with minimal impact to the travelling public and minimal impact to Albertan tax dollars. We wanted to improve the safety of the interchange, and that was the key driving factor,” he said.
Mayor Judy Dahl said the project was a long time in coming.
“I'm pleased. We know that they don't have $70 million (to do a full upgrade but) this is satisfactory, it's temporary. We don't know for what stretch and length of time it's temporary for, but it's going to work. And that's all that matters,” she said.
Larry Wright, the town's director of operations, said while the changes are temporary, they nonetheless are a step forward.
“The overpass improvements represent a significant investment in the Highway 2 and 27 network,” he said.
