A section of Hwy 2A along the west side of Gasoline Alley was expected to reopen this morning as rail crews worked on damages from a train derailment.
The short section of highway between McKenzie Road and Lantern Street was closed and traffic diverted through Gasoline Alley at 6:45 a.m. Tuesday so crews could start recovering a Canadian Pacific Railway locomotive and five tank cars that left the tracks about five hours earlier.
Recovery efforts include construction of an emergency access road along the ditch between the highway and the section of track where the train had derailed.
The access road would enable crews to safely investigate the scene, remove rolling stock and conduct repairs to the tracks, CPR spokeswoman Breanne Feigel said from the company’s Toronto offices on Tuesday.
Whether both lanes of traffic will be restored by today is still unknown, said Calgary-based Feigel, who had been called to Toronto to help deal with media calls in relation to the derailment.
Russ Watts, operations manager for Alberta Transportation in Red Deer, had said earlier in the day that CPR hoped to have at least one lane opened today and all travel restored on Thursday.
All six of the units that left the tracks were at the back of a train heading from Red Deer to Calgary, said Feigel.
Two of the five tankers fell over, while the locomotive and the other three cars remained upright. There were no injuries, no leaks and only minor damage to the locomotive, she said.
The tank cars had been carrying glycol, used primarily to make antifreeze. Feigel could not say whether or not the glycol had come from the Dow plant at Prentiss, east of Blackfalds.
CPR’s first task after the derailment was to ensure that there were no injuries and no risk to people or the environment in the area, she said. An investigation, recovery and repair plan was then developed, including construction of the access road.
Involved in the investigation are teams from the RCMP, CPR police and the Transportation Safety Board, said Feigel.
It could take days or weeks before investigators can determine why the train left the rails, she said.
bkossowan@www.reddeeradvocate.com