Upgrades to a vital stretch of Highway 28 in Cold Lake are underway.
The city will be continuing work to widen lanes and expand the highway starting just south of the Highway 28 and 54 Avenue intersection, and ending just north of 50 Ave., near Cold Lake Chrysler.
“The project was awarded last year and the first phase was to complete the main street intersection at Highway 28 and 50 Ave.,” said general manager of infrastructure services for the City of Cold Lake Azam Khan.
Originally, the project was meant to wrap-up by the end of July 2017. However, the city has since extended their timeline.
Last year's work was supposed to end July 31, and include the road near the intersection of Highway 28 and 50 Ave., explained Khan. “This year we added another section that will go just north of 47Ave. We have not yet received final word from the contractor, but we're anticipating the construction will go until September,” informed Khan.
Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copeland expanded on the importance of the construction along the 1.5-kilometre stretch.
“The highway wasn't built to code way back when. We're trying to bring it up to code, extend it, and make it that much more functional,” he explained.
While the city expects short delays in commute time throughout the project, Copeland believes the end result will be worth it.
“It will be down to one lane each direction and it will cause backups this summer, but once the project is done it will be a really beautiful highway.”
In order to keep delays to a minimum and traffic flowing smoothly, reduction of Highway 28 to one lane will be limited only to where work is being done.
“Right now, the north end of the project is only one lane. We're going to do it in pieces,” said Khan. “So far traffic is moving well, there's a little bit of a delay, but people are adjusting their schedules and we really appreciate that.”
