City of Edmonton fixes worst road

The season of pylons, paving and road construction is about to come to an end in the City of Edmonton.

On Tuesday morning the city touted its successes in improving the citys roadways.

In 2014, the City renewed its commitment to improving Edmontons road infrastructure, with an investment of $424.1 million, acting branch manager for Roads Design and Construction Byron Nicholson said.

The $424 million went towards improvements on 178 arterial roads, bridges, interchanges and neighbourhood projects.

The city says one of its biggest road achievements this year is the completion of the two-year, $10.6 million reconstruction work on 63rd Avenue, between 99th Street and Calgary Trail, once considered one of the worst roads in Edmonton.

We are happy that one of our biggest projects, 63rd Avenue, is open to traffic on time and on budget, Nicholson said.

To showcase how the city turned 63rd Avenue, a concrete road, into a beautiful three-lane-in-each-direction route, transportation officials held a press conference within steps of the completed project on Tuesday morning.

The city of Edmonton is attributing at least part of its successful road construction season to the weather. A fall, without any significant snow fall, is one of the reasons why the city says it was able to complete 80 per cent of its planned road projects.

Paving projects depend on warm weather; once the ground freezes paving and road construction has to end.

You drive around and you cant help but hit a road that has been repaved and it makes everyones commute a bit better when theyre driving on new pavement rather than old bumpy roads, Nicholson said.

When asked by reporters where the worst road is now, Nicholson responded I dont know, well get to it next year.

The citys 2014 road infrastructure investments also included:

• Widening Guardian Road/Lewis Estates Boulevard
• Widening 23rd Avenue and 34th Street
• $133 million spent on 85 neighbourhood renewal projects
• $85 million invested in 38 arterial road projects

The City also completed reconstructions in five mature neighbourhoods:

• Argyll
• Delton
• Grovenor
• King Edward Park
• North Glenora

Continuing multi-year projects include:

• 102 Avenue over Groat Road Bridge (year 1 of 2)
• Walterdale Bridge replacement project (year 2 of 3)
• QEII Hwy/41 Avenue SW interchange (year 2 of 3)
• 112 Avenue rehabilitation (50 St to 68 St) (year 1 of 2)
• Neighbourhood reconstructions in Cromdale, Glenora, Hazeldean and Laurier Heights