Construction is moving forward on Highway 28 enhancements in Cold Lake.
Motorists will have to deal with lane closures for a little while longer, as phase two work begins on the stretch of road south of the 50 Ave. intersection towards 47 Ave.
“We will be completing phase one within the week. The pavers were out doing the last stretch of the highway, the crews will mobilize, and you'll see road closures all the way south to Jester's Paints,” Azam Khan, general manager of infrastructure services, told city council on Aug. 22. “The concrete work and any cleanup will continue as they start moving to the south; concrete crews will come and go between the two.”
Slated for completion by Oct. 15, 2017, phase two work includes enhancements starting at 52 St. and ending at 47 Ave. Khan explained that they will first be putting a focus on completing the service road in front of Assumption Jr./Sr. High School so that it's ready for the start of the school year, before moving on.
“From Subway, the lane closures will happen. All of the traffic will move to the one side and they have to install storm lines and waterlines in this location. It will be a long stretch of closures to the Chrysler intersection. They have told us that they will do the south bound lanes first and the north bound lanes after.”
Council also decided to complete work on Hwy. 28 from 47 Ave. to 43 Ave., opting for the more cost-effective option of a mill and overlay.
“It's been a wet year, there's no doubt about it, and it's pushed back some of the work. They're going in stages, we wanted them to fix 50th going toward the Lakeland Inn before they did 50th to 47th,” said Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copeland. “We're going to stop at 47th with the new design and from there we'll pick up the payment and re-shave it into new overlay.”
During their Aug. 22 meeting, city council allocated an additional $600,000 to the project. Of that, $450,000 is required to complete phase two and $150,000 will be used for the mill and overlay. This brings the total budget for the Hwy. 28 widening and enhancement to just under $14 million.
Some of those dollars, Khan noted, were available in the 2016 service roads project budget. The bulk of it, $400,000, will be reallocated from the 2017 service roads project and instead, those roads will be reconsidered in the 2018 budget.
“A lot of the service roads are already being enhanced with the Hwy. 28 project. The two main service roads, by KFC and A&W, will get new paving so that money can be utilized in this phase.”
City administration is also working with Walmart to open up access to the parking lot from 49 St., but with no final answer from the corporation or indication of how long it may take to get one, council opted to hold off on approving that project.
While the construction may be a lengthy process, Copeland noted it will be worth it in the end.
“I thank everybody that's had a lot of patience, certainly the business community and the drivers.”
