Good luck trying to avoid road construction in Red Deer.
A total of 12.5 km of crown paving is happening around the city.
“That’s a fairly big one for traffic disruption, crown paving,” said Jim Chase, the city’s road superintendent, on Thursday.
“It will be on and off all summer. It causes major traffic disruptions because they have to close off a lot of lanes to grind down the top layer of pavement and then repave it.”
Asphalt paving is happening southbound on Taylor Drive between 32nd and 43rd Streets, northbound on 49th Avenue between 36th and 43rd Streets, and northbound on Gaetz Avenue between 20th and 30th Streets.
Asphalt milling is underway southbound on Taylor Drive between 65th Avenue and 67th Street and northbound on Taylor Drive between 67th and 69th Streets.
Contracted companies are doing the paving and milling. Some of the work is done at night. Chase said weather may have caused delays.
“There is probably more of a hurry now to get them done before the end of summer.
“They get some rain delays every year, but this year there has been a lot of rain on different days.”
He said asphalt lasts about 12 years on high traffic roads and about 35 years on residential streets. As the city has grown, so has the amount of crown paving.
“It goes on in every city. It’s never going to go away. You just need to be patient.”
For the list of paving and other road construction in the city and traffic impact, visit www.reddeer.ca/closures.
Road work will continue until the end of September, depending on the weather, Chase said.
Motorists are reminded to slow down when approaching or driving in construction areas, watch for flying debris and obey all signs.
szielinski@www.reddeeradvocate.com