Three new sets of passing lanes will be added along a 46-kilometre stretch of Highway 17 north of the City of Lloydminster to boost safety and economic activity.
The highway improvement will be a bi-provincial project announced Thursday by Alberta Minister of Transportation and Economic Corridors Devin Dreeshen and Saskatchewan Highways Minister Lori Carr at a news conference in Saskatoon.
“The project design is expected to be completed in 2025. Tendering will follow with road construction to start no earlier than 2025,” Carr said to reporters.
“The interprovincial project is moving forward thanks to the two provinces cementing an even closer working relationship by signing Collaboration on the Advancement of Economic Corridors Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).”
Both ministers said the selection of Hwy. 17 for the passing lanes project was based on safety and the value of the highway as a economic corridor skirting the Alberta-Saskatchewan border.
“Traffic on Hwy 17 ranges from 1,700 to 6,000 vehicles a day,” said Carr.
“Putting passing lanes will enhance the safety of that road significantly.
“Because it follows the Saskatchewan Alberta border, we’re happy to partner with Alberta and Alberta is happy to partner with us on a 50/50 partnership.”
Dreeshen says they also looked at the economic corridor aspect of it as well.
He says the industry in the Lloyd area and the different mix of traffic is something they want to make sure is safe, not just for the workers in the area, but as well as the families that live along the route.
Lloydminster Mayor Gerald Aalbers said in a statement, “Our city on the Alberta-Saskatchewan Border works with many communities in both provinces to better position the region for growth and to enhance the services for all the people we all have the privilege of serving.
“It is wonderful to see the governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan working toward a common goal to enhance Highway 17 in the future, which will improve transportation in the area when the project is completed.”
The project’s cost won’t be known until the design and tendering are completed.
Alberta is marking more than a year of working with Saskatchewan and Manitoba through the Prairies Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to advance economic corridors and enhance collaboration with Alberta’s prairie neighbours.
The provinces continue to make progress towards a Northern Trade Corridor that enhances the connection to tidewater at Hudson Bay.
In Alberta, this includes the extension (200 km) of Highway 686 between Peerless Lake and Fort McMurray, which will connect northern Alberta communities and support economic development in Alberta’s north.
Alberta’s government is also moving forward with plans to create new highway connections between Alberta and Saskatchewan, improving the seamless connection of people, goods and industrial activity between the two jurisdictions.
This includes a new highway connection between Fort McMurray and La Loche, Saskatchewan.
The project will include the construction of 65 kilometres of new highway in Alberta to connect to Highway 956 in Saskatchewan.
The project will open up a new east-west economic corridor in this resource-rich part of Alberta, adding new capacity for the movement of energy products, heavy equipment and the delivery of goods and services to communities in the region.
The project will also create a much-needed secondary exit route from northeast Alberta in the event of an emergency, while also providing better access to tourism and recreation opportunities.
Read More: Highway 16 construction set to begin July 17
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