Chestermere, AB – If you haven’t driven Township Road 240 in a while, it only takes a moment to realize you’ll be in for a bumpy ride.
Chestermere’s southern border road is one of the few remaining gravel roads in the community. Over the past few years its usage has grown and now serves approximately 800 vehicles per day. Despite the best efforts of roads crews who grade the road several times a week, the road is in need of an upgrade.
Aware of its poor condition, an upgrade has been considered for several years. In 2015, the City received a Federal and Provincial grant for $6 Million to assist with the upgrade of the road.
“The grant gave us the opportunity to move the project up and improve our residents’ transportation routes sooner than originally anticipated,” says Mayor Patricia Matthews.
“The multi-year project is designed to support the future growth and development of Chestermere, improve access to the City as a whole, help attract commercial and light industrial businesses, and ease traffic congestion on other major transportation routes.”
In particular, as the southern areas of Chestermere continue to grow, this upgraded road will ease traffic congestion on East Lakeview Road and East Chestermere Drive.
In January of 2017, the project began with the upgrade of the bridge over the canal near Chestermere’s eastern border. The bridge construction is on schedule and will be complete by the end of July.
The next segment of construction will begin the week of July 17 and include installation of deep utilities, excavation and base preparation. These utilities will allow for water and sewer for new development to proceed in the southern parts of Chestermere and will be repaid through offsite levies.
Starting near Range Road 282 and moving east towards the new bridge, this portion will be closed for the duration of construction (with local access only). Due to weather and regulatory constraints, concrete and asphalt work will commence in the spring. This section of roadwork is expected to be complete in July 2018 and will be followed by the upgrade of the section between Range Road 282 and Rainbow Road.
The portion of the project not funded by grants will be repaid to the City through the collection of off-site levies that will cover the front-ending and outstanding costs. Those levies from developers will include payments for interest and administration costs associated with the project.
For more information, visit www.chestermere.ca/twp240
