Province announces Peace Region highway upgrades

For the third day in a row, the Alberta Government has announced funding for highway upgrades in the province.

On May 4, the Province announced upgrades for roadways in north and central Alberta, on May 5, upgrades for southern Alberta and May 6, upgrades for roadways in the Peace Region. These projects are part of the $2 billion that government announced on April 9 in order to spur job creation.

“The Peace Region is an increasingly important economic driver for our province, and these projects will help ensure necessary transportation corridors are ready to support the region’s businesses and job creators once the economy recovers, while creating badly needed jobs in the short term,” said Transportation Ric McIver in a release.

Some of the shovel-ready road and bridge repair projects set to begin in the Peace Region within “the next few months” include:

-Beginning preparation for grade widening on Highway 697 near La Crete.

-Repaving 19 kilometres of Highway 35 south of the Town of High Level.

-Repaving 32 kilometres of Highway 684 from Highway 2 to the Town of Peace River.

-Repaving 42 kilometres of Highway 43 between Fox Creek and Valleyview.

-Grading 19 kilometres of Highway 679 from Highway 49 to Highway 2.

-Repaving 13 kilometres of Highway 670 east of Highway 43.

-Slide repair on Highway 40 near the Kakwa River.

-Repaving 12 kilometres of Highway 2 from west of Kinuso to east of Highway 33.

-Various slide repairs throughout the Peace Region.

The projects are expected to provide 870 jobs.