Construction of Red Deer’s eventual ring road is right on schedule and on budget, with an end date sometime in the next 25 years.
The eventual six-lane expressway will align Hwy 11A, Northland Drive, 20th Avenue and McKenzie Road when completed.
The project called the North Highway Connector Project is expected to reduce congestion on city arterial roads and improve traffic movement.
Ken Haslop, City of Red Deer’s major projects engineer, said crews are in the final stages of completing the construction of the major earthworks and utility installation or Phase 1A of the multi-phased and multi-year project.
“The west side of the Red Deer River is basically completed,” said Haslop. “Work is continuing on the east side of the river.”
Haslop said work on the east side is scheduled to wrap up by the end of December. The first stage comes with an estimated $120-million price tag.
“At that point, we will be left with the complete highway connector right away for Phase 1A from Gaetz Avenue and Hwy 11A intersection all the way across the river to 30th Avenue,” said Haslop.
The next two-year Phase 1B is expected to get underway in 2017 and cost $55 million. This will include the building of the Northland Drive Red Deer River Bridge, the Canadian National Railway bridge, six km of two lane roadway and reconstruction of the 67th Street and 32nd Avenue intersection.
“By the time we build the roadway in 2018 or 2019, it should look pretty good with the grass already there and the trees growing,” said Haslop.
Haslop said the overall plan is to have the road complete in either a four-lane configuration or a six-lane configuration by the time Red Deer’s population reaches 188,000 around 2040.
“We’re on schedule and within the approved budget,” said Haslop.
For more information and maps of each phase of the project, check www.reddeer.ca and look for North Highway Connector Project under the city projects tab.
crhyno@www.reddeeradvocate.com