COCHRANE— Looking to alleviate the bottleneck of traffic at the Highway 1A/22 intersection, Alberta Transportation and the Town of Cochrane are continuing to pursue infrastructure upgrades.
Airdrie-Cochrane MLA Peter Guthrie said the project is going ahead, but some elements need to be completed first— This includes an archeological dig, utility work and engineering on pipelines in the area.
“We are very motivated from our perspective to get it done because we want to get this construction project going,” Guthrie said.
Construction of the project is expected to take around two years to complete with a price range of around $75 million.
"This is a project that has to go forward,” Guthrie said.
The current bridge running over the Canadian Pacific Railway has reached its life expectancy and needs to be changed out, he said, adding that the new bridge is being planned to sit a little higher than originally planned because Sunset Ridge has been brought into the fold.
Guthrie said they are working to create better traffic flow out of the community and plan on widening the exit out of Sunset to create two official turning lanes.
The archeological work involved with the project is on its third and final dig for the area, Guthrie said, adding that they are looking to have the project completed “before the snow flies" in September.
The archeological dig is exploring an old site that appears to be a bunkhouse that would have been associated with a brick mill near the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks.
He added that the Highway 1A/22 project is considered 99 per cent designed finished, but it cannot be officially marked as a completed design until the province can finalize plans with the pipelines.
Once that is completed they can seal it, mark it as finished and get the project out to tender.
“This is a priority for us and we are working diligently on it to get it done,” Guthrie said. “We’re ready to go that the last aspect.”
Cochrane Mayor Jeff Genung said the upgrades to Highway 1A have been decades in the making.
“We’re trying to do what we can as a community to keep the pressure on,” Genung said.
The intersection has seen some improvements over the years but, for the most part, it has remained unchanged as the population in the region has experienced massive growth.
“The traffic is coming from multiple areas and it’s really noticeable in hot spots— Our hill, the 1A Highway, 22, it’s been a long, long, time coming,” Genung said. “We’ve got to keep the foot on the gas pedal."
The Town is doing everything it can to help bring the project to fruition— This includes a project to move utilities located in the Sunset Ridge area.
“We felt it necessary to do everything in the power of the community to get everything out of the way that we can,” Genung said.
Alberta Transportation had said they would move the utilities as part of the project and charge the Town. However, the Town of Cochrane decided it would rather be in charge so they could better control the timing and cost of the utility relocation project, Genung said.
“It’s one less hurdle for Alberta Transportation and we’ll move that project quicker because it’s one less thing they’ll have to do with it."
The utility relocation is slated to take place in the fall.
Genung added that the plan to mitigate traffic flow in Sunset is an important addition to the project.
The Town approached Alberta Transportation to add to the Highway 1A/22 design and extend the project to the entrance to Sunset. The Town will pay for the extension and is working on an agreement with the developer in Sunset to help fund the additional construction.
“I’ve got a bottle of champagne in here— When they announced the funding in the budget I put that on my desk in the council meeting and said, ‘I’m not cracking, I’m not popping this bottle until we see shovels in the ground,” Genung said. “I’m not stopping, we are not stopping— This is important.”
