SUNDRE – Now that barricades have been removed, motorists no longer need to take backstreet detours to access businesses along the Highway 27-Main Avenue high-load corridor.
With the temporary mini-roundabouts now gone, four-way stop signs have been installed at the intersections of 2nd, 3rd and 4th streets on an interim basis until such a time as the permanent concrete mini-roundabouts can be constructed.
“These four-way stops will stay in place until (Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors, TEC) completes the pavement improvements and installs permanent roundabouts in those locations,” reads background information about the project on the town's website.
The project’s full scope, however, extends beyond the downtown core, with further plans to improve Highway 27 to the east with a new set of traffic lights at the intersection with Highway 760, or the Bergen Road, as well as to the west with a single-lane roundabout at the intersection of highways 27-22-584 and 10th Street near Tim Hortons.
Additional improvements also include pavement rehabilitation as well as improvements to curbs, gutters, sidewalks, access management and lighting.
“The temporary mini roundabouts installed as a pilot project in 2017 have been assessed and deemed effective in improving both traffic flow as well as pedestrian safety,” reads part of the municipality's statement.
“As such, TEC have directed the installation of permanent roundabouts...in 2024.”
Before work on the high-load corridor could get underway, the municipality sought to capitalize on the opportunity to upgrade underground infrastructure by repairing the water main as well as replacing sewer and storm sewer along the stretch of road through the downtown core. The town says that work is expected to be finished by mid 2024.
Alberta Transportation anticipates completing the Highway 27 improvements in Sundre’s downtown by the fall of 2024.
And while construction on the single-lane roundabout on the west side of town is not expected to start until the spring of 2025, the required underground utility relocation work for this intersection is forecast to be finished next year.
Queries about either ongoing work or the project's future phases can be emailed to [email protected].
