Politicians in the Bonnyville area have been calling for provincial support to help fund and improve infrastructure and services in the region for years, and perhaps now they are finally being listened to – or at least heard.
Late last month, a contingent of Bonnyville councillors, including Mayor Gene Sobolewski, made the trip to Edmonton to attend the annual Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) convention, with the intentions of again voicing the concerns of council and residents regarding the growth in the community, but lack of provincial support.
Sobolewski was thankful to get the ear of Diana McQueen, new minister of Municipal Affairs and hopeful his words would help pull in funding for the planned regional waterline from Cold Lake, which the provincial government approved, but promptly notified local leaders there was no provincial funding for.
Certainly, no concrete decisions are made at the convention, but continually pushing home the message can eventually create positive change – sometimes at unexpected moments, as it did regarding the abysmal state of Highway 28.
The main route between Edmonton and Cold Lake is, to put it mildly, brutal.
Too much traffic, too big of loads, unsafe infrastructure, unsafe drivers and seemingly no attention paid to it, until now.
For years the highway has been at or near the top of local priority lists to be improved, but being a provincial highway, it is up to the province to fund that improvement.
Going back to the days of Ernie Isley as Bonnyville's mayor, local leaders from the business sector, industrial sector, education sector, as well as local politicians have been pointing out the poor shape of the highway, but to no avail. They've even had Transportation Minister Wayne Drysdale come all the way out to Bonnyville, but in the end he still delivered the news no one wanted to hear – there is no funding for Highway 28.
That was until Premier Jim Prentice had to drive on it.
Bonnyville Coun. Jim Cheverie explains what Prentice had to say about the highway at the AUMA convention.
“I think the big highlight for us as a council came when the Premier, in his address, said the worst highway in Alberta is Highway 28,” Cheverie said. “He said it was the worst road he traveled on this summer and he has every intention to rectify all the issues (pertaining) to the highway, which is good news for you, me and everybody else in this region.”
Who knows if or how long it will take the premier to heed his own words. However, like Cheverie said, if he does follow through on funding Highway 28 repairs, we will all benefit.
