Red Deer Regional Airport's $18 million road expansion project has picked up a financial tailwind.
So far, the project is about $1.5 million under budget, an unexpected but welcome bonus for the two-year project to extend Airport Drive to link up with Township Road 374 and C&E Trail.
On Tuesday, County council approved the award of a $5.5 million tender to low bidder Border Paving Ltd. Beginning this spring, the company will build and pave the roadway from the airport to C&E Trail and upgrade intersections to complete the project to provide a second paved access to the airport.
When complete in mid-September, the new road link will provide access to 200 acres of developable land that the airport hopes will be used to turn the site into a transportation hub and provide an economic development boon.
"The completion of that road will definitely take our airport into the next phase of expansion," said Mayor Jim Wood. "I'm very excited for the future of our airport."
Coun. Lonny Kennett said the airport upgrades promise to create a world-class facility and will benefit Springbrook residents as well.
"Not only will this help the airport, but hopefully it will alleviate some of the traffic issues that have plagued residents for years," he said.
Bottlenecks at the Highway 2A and Airport Drive intersection have been eased, but not entirely eliminated, by the construction of a roundabout there in 2021.
Coun. Philip Massier said bringing in such a major project under budget "speaks volumes to the way we do business here in central Alberta and Red Deer County."
Massier said he hoped the savings could be passed on to the airport to offset operation costs and reduce future funding requests to the county and City of Red Deer, both of which have invested millions in the airport over the years.
The provincial government provided $30 million in its 2023 budget to the airport. The county is overseeing the Airport Drive expansion project using the provincial funding.
Red Deer County got some good news on Tuesday on a number of other road projects.
Council awarded a $4.27 million tender to Central City Asphalt Ltd. to pave Range Road 22 from Little Red (Township Road 354) to Township Road 360 about 15 kilometres west of Innisfail, and Little Red From Range Road 22 to Range Road 315.
That bid came in under the $4.47 million engineering estimate.
Coun. Connie Huelsman, who has been lobbying for the road upgrade for years, said it will benefit both area farmers and the large number of motorists who use the route to get to Glennifer Reservoir resorts.
Even better news followed the tendering of the county's summer paving program, involving 10 projects throughout the county. Central City was again the winning bidder. Its bid of $4.7 million was $1 million less than the engineering estimate.
