SUNDRE – Dozens of people recently dropped by the Sundre Community Centre to get a better understanding of the planned detour route along the Highway 27-Main Avenue corridor as the municipality prepares to resume construction to complete the overhaul of underground infrastructure that got started last year.
Representatives from Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors joined town officials to answer questions at a recent public information session.
Linda Nelson, chief administrative officer, told the Albertan a total of 55 people attended, with 39 of them declaring Sundre residency and the other 16 reportedly hailing from Mountain View County.
According to an anticipated timeline of events posted on one of the information panels, Alberta Transportation’s portion of the project will be put to tender later this year with miscellaneous construction activities potentially set to get underway in the fall.
However, the bulk of the project that will see the addition of a new set of traffic lights on the east side of the Red Deer River Bridge at the intersection of Highways 27 and 760, or the Bergen Road, as well as permanent concrete mini-roundabouts through the Main Avenue downtown corridor, will largely be tackled in 2025.
And as for the regular-sized roundabout that is reportedly planned for the west-side junction of highways 27-22-584, which is the scene of fairly regular collisions, the timeline remains to be officially determined.
But before Transportation and Economic Corridors can begin the long-anticipated overlay Highway 27 project with permanent roundabouts, the municipality must first complete the underground work.
Throughout the duration of the construction period, west-bound traffic coming through Sundre will be detoured north on 1st Street NW and west along 1st Avenue NW, also known as Myron Thompson Avenue.
From there, motorists who are heading west of town will be directed all the way down 1st Avenue NW and around behind the largely vacant lot immediately north of the Highway 27-Main Avenue corridor near the new Dairy Queen.
Meanwhile, one lane for eastbound traffic will remain available along the Highway 27-Main Avenue corridor.
