County Council Commits to Improving 128 kilometres of local roads

by Morinville News Staff

Sturgeon County has committed to a ten-year plan to improve 128 kilometres of local roads using external contractors and pending available funding. County Council voted unanimously on the item at their Nov. 22 meeting.

Land issues, access to clay, economic conditions, and escalating costs have impacted the County’s Local Road Reconstruction Program over the last few years, prompting a review of the Local Road Reconstruction Program. That review was completed with a “Let’s Talk Roads” public education campaign, the latter giving the County the chance to hear from residents.

“This will give Transportation Services staff the opportunity to focus on road maintenance and operations improvements,” said General Manager of Municipal Services Ian McKay in a release Wednesday. “Sturgeon County will be prioritizing roads for reconstruction based on criteria that considers condition, traffic and maintenance costs.”

The County is planning to evaluate and prioritize roads in 2017, with engineering design, land acquisition, utility relocations, and the awarding of contracts taking place in 2018. Road reconstruction will begin in 2019.

The County says it is not planning a tax increase to fund the project. Program costs will be included in future capital budgets as funding is approved.

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3 Comments

  1. Didn’t they buy their own equipment a few years back so they didn’t have to contract this work out? I understand if that venture hasn’t worked we need to try something else. My hope is that the equipment they no longer need fetches a good price to recoup costs. Also it would seem their would be staff layoffs or maintenance work now spread between prior maintenance and prior build crews?

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