With construction of the Hwy. 11 Twinning Project anticipated to start south of Sylvan Lake this year, Innisfail- Sylvan Lake MLA Devin Dreeshen eagerly looks forward to using community input “to feed into the transportation consultation process.”
The $120-million project to twin 66 kms of the highway between Sylvan Lake and Rocky Mountain House is expected to be built in four phases. Planning and design for the entire project is already underway.
Shovels will first go into the ground on the project to add two more lanes from two km west of Hwy. 781 (50 St.) to one km east of Hwy. 20. As part of the upgrade, two roundabouts at the intersections of Hwy. 11 and Hwy. 781 (50 St.) and at Hwy. 11 and Range Road 15 (60 St.) will also be built.
The popular summer destination of Sylvan Lake will benefit from the addition of two efficient intersections leading to town and improving access for Albertans and visitors alike, said Dreeshen. He added building infrastructure that benefits communities is the best kind of government spending.
“It is great to see the growth and expansion of Sylvan Lake, especially on the west side, but also the opening up of downtown with the two-lane roundabout… it’s just fantastic news for Sylvan Lake.”
Central-Albertan families and businesses will gain from hundreds of new jobs arising from the project.
“It’s great for the economy and great for people to get back to work.”
Dreeshen looks forward to hosting round tables and open houses to familiarize the transportation department with what “the will of people of Sylvan Lake is and what they’ll like to see.” Working in coordination with the town, he hopes to start consultations this winter/spring.
Dreeshen presses on the transportation department to consider making amendments to the existing intersection of Hwy. 11 and Hwy. 20 and address the prevailing safety concerns.
“Whether it’s just the elevation difference turning into that intersection or the very short off-ramps that are kind of on the side of the intersection to come in and out of, is something that needs improvement.”
Dreeshen aims to contribute towards a thorough plan to make sure project advancements are done right.
“We really want this to be a collaborative consultation… to get it done right because hopefully we only have to do this once, unlike the frost heaves fix on Hwy. 11. It was good to see that chunk of highway finally fix as well last year.”
For further project information visit www.alberta.ca/highway-11-twinning-project.aspx.