A short portion of Highway 2A will remain closed, possibly until Thursday, while rail crews repair tracks damaged during a derailment early Tuesday morning.
Traffic is being diverted through Gasoline Alley to avoid the section between Lantern Street and McKenzie Road, where a locomotive and five tank cars left the tracks. The Canadian Pacific Rail line runs immediately west of Hwy 2A in that area.
Russ Watts, operations manager for Alberta Transportation in Red Deer, said CP Rail anticipates that single-lane travel could be restored sometime Wednesday, but that it could be Thursday before the highway is fully opened.
The highway closure was necessary to enable crews to pull up and replace the damaged rails, said Watts.
There were no injuries as a result of the derailment nor were any leaks reported from the five tank cars, reported to have been carrying glycol.
No injuries occurred when six cars of a southbound CP Rail train came off the tracks just south of Red Deer.
Five tankers carrying glycol - none of which are leaking - and a locomotive at the end of the train derailed about 2 a.m. Tuesday four km south of the city.
Hwy 2A remains closed between the Gasoline Alley exit and McKenzie Road. Traffic is being rerouted to Hwy 2.