People in La Crete are eagerly anticipating work happening on the new bridge to replace the Tompkins Landing ferry.
The Province’s Transportation Minister, Devin Dreeshen, says the preliminary engineering work is currently happening to determine the best spot for that bridge.
“We have rough high-level estimates of what that bridge would look like, but it obviously depends on the alignment and the location of it. Once that’s finalized, then there’s land purchases and permits, whether it’s provincial or federal, to cross the river. Once we find out exactly where the bridge could go, then obviously all these other shoes have to drop and other hurdles have to be jumped through.”
Dreeshen says more detailed design work would take at least a year, with about 2-3 years needed for the actual construction work.
Another much talked about project is the Highway 686 extension to connect the Peace region to Fort McMurray.
Currently, 686 only goes as far as the Peerless Lake/Trout Lake area.
Dreeshen calls the projects a “major undertaking”.
“It would be a 215 km new road that would be added to the provincial highway network. We usually just improve existing roads so having a new road of that size being built is something that hasn’t happened in a long time in the province, but the importance of Northern Alberta is really on showcase.”
You can listen to the full interview below.
– Kyle Moore, Trending 55 Newsroom
