City adds $16M to road construction budget

The city will invest an extra $16.3 million in additional road projects this year, says Mayor Don Iveson.

In total, 51 new roadway projects are in the works, bringing the total for 2014 to 178 projects, costing more than $430 million.

This additional investment demonstrates the aggressive approach Council is taking to renewing Edmontons essential roadway infrastructure, Iveson said in a statement.

On Tuesday, Mayor Don Iveson outlined how a large chunk of that will be spent.

"Twenty-five arterial roadway projects, 26 neighbourhood projects and this additional work is happening all around the city."

While Iveson acknowledged the increase in road work may be a headache for Edmontonians, he said its necessary.

People want us to fix the roads, they're going to be tired of the orange barricades. Have the orange barricades for a few construction seasons, get caught up on this and then have roads we can be proud of again."

However, Iveson cautioned its going to take about five years to finish all the road work that needs to be done after years of neglect.

So far, the City has completed six road projects in 2014 including the Walterdale Hill realignment. City crews have also fixed 245,770 potholes so far this year.