In an effort to kickstart a struggling economy still dealing with the pandemic, Alberta Transportation announced plans Tuesday to resurface the Trans-Canada Bridge and begin to upgrade the interchange at highways 1 and 3.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
The Trans-Canada Bridge in Medicine Hat will be resurfaced and the Alberta Transportation will begin a multi-phased remaking of the highway 1 and 3 interchange this summer as it looks to add capital projects to stabilize economic activity.
Both projects – long discussed but left on the shelf since early last decade – were among 11 in southern Alberta announced on Tuesday morning by Transport Minister Ric McIver ,
In early April, McIver and Premier Jason Kenney said $2 billion would be added to capital budget to create jobs during periods of low economic activity this year.
There’s now estimated budget released for the Medicine Hat-based projects, including upgrades to LED lighting for both highways in city limits, but in total the project as said to create 600 jobs.
Local city planners welcomed the announcement and said the Highway 3 interchange has been in their plans for some time.
“They are working towards a ‘diamond’ interchange there and this will be the first phase,” Stan Nowakoski, the municipal works department’s chief engineer, told the News. “The eventual goal is to have free-flowing traffic (on highways) through the city.”
At the overpass that carries the Trans-Canada over Gerhsaw Drive (which becomes Highway 3), the province will upgrade on and off ramps, adding dual-left turning lanes for vehicles coming off the Trans-Canada and moving onto Highway 3.
Also, traffic lights will be added to replace stop signs, helping traffic flow in a setup that Nowakowski said will resemble the interchange at Dunmore Road.
The city’s 2012 transportation masterplan called for a number of changes to reconfigure traffic from Highway 3 to the river, but that was considered an “unfunded priority” in the last six provincial budgets.
Future phases involve closing some intersections from the Southwest Industrial Area and also Seventh Street SW, along with service road development.
The bridge carrying east-bound traffic over the South Saskatchewan River has been a source of constant complaint since the span was beat up by high volumes in 2013 and 2014 when the west-bound bridge was completely replaced.
Alberta Transportation announced numerous new projects across the province on Tuesday.
Specific to souther Alberta, projects include new paving projects totalling 100 kilometres on sections of the Trans-Canada, near Highway 36, and on Highway 550, near Rosemary.
