SUNDRE – Work on the long-anticipated redesign and overhaul of the Highway 27-Main Avenue corridor through Sundre is expected to get started in March.
Following this past year’s completion of the underground utility work undertaken by the municipality, Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors (TEC) will be able to proceed with the planned improvements to the high-load corridor.
The municipality announced that a “contractor has been selected and will begin by preparing a laydown area in the northeast quadrant of the” intersection of highways 27, 22, 584 and 10th Street on the west side of town, with construction expected to begin in March.
Highway 27 is designated as an over-sized over-weight route and is a key contributor to the province’s high-load corridor. TEC has for years been planning improvements on the highway through Sundre stretching from the municipality’s eastern boundary all the way through to the west.
The temporary mini-roundabouts installed as a pilot project in 2017 were assessed and deemed effective in improving both traffic flow as well as pedestrian safety. As such, TEC subsequently announced plans to install permanent roundabouts.
The redesign is intended to ensure safer as well as more efficient travel through the area while also enhancing pedestrian safety.
Among the planned improvements are:
• A single-lane, regular-size roundabout on Sundre’s west side at the intersection of highways 27, 22, 584 and Range Road 54 that’s also known as 10th Street SW;
• Permanent mini-roundabouts at the intersections of 2nd, 3rd and 4th streets west;
• Intersection improvements at 1st Street west for a right-in, right-out flow of traffic;
• A new set of traffic lights at the intersection with Highway 760, or the Bergen Road; and,
• Pavement rehabilitation as well as improvements to curbs, gutters, sidewalks and access management and lighting.
The bulk of the construction is expected to be underway from March to October with work wrapping up in November depending on conditions.
But the anticipated timeline also includes earlier miscellaneous activities over the next couple of months such as the clearing of construction laydown area in the northeast quadrant of the intersection of highways 27, 22, 584 and 10th Street SW.
