Drysdale talks roads, PLUZ with County of Grande Prairie Council

GP Wapiti MLA Wayne Drysdale talked about some road-building projects while speaking at Monday’s meeting of County of Grande Prairie Council.
 
Drysdale says it is obvious that Highway 43X will not be finished by mid-October as planned and the contractor will incur a penalty.
 
“Everybody tries to blame the weather, but they’ve had two years and we’ve had some pretty good years. (There was) pretty good weather this summer, too, so you can’t expect every day to be a perfect construction day, so when you bid on stuff, you should know that.”
 
Drysdale adds he has some questions for Alberta Transportation about the new traffic circle that opened last week on Highway 43X.
 
He says he was hoping for an interchange, not a circle, and the roundabout that is there could be better.
 
“They took away where you could exit on a right turn before you even got in the circle. Some of them you can do that. They took that out of (this one). Going from east to west, you can take a right turn and head north without going in the circle, but coming from south to north and going east, you can’t. It’s not even the same at each point in the circle.”
 
They talked about Highway 40 and the new pavement that is going in.
 
“It was pretty rough and in bad shape, so they’re doing that, plus the connection on 668  from Highway 40 to Resources Road is getting a new surface, so that helps.”
 
The work on 40 also includes new plastic lines and a turning lane for Sprucewood Park.
 
Drysdale and Council also talked about a proposed Public Land Use Zone south of Grande Prairie that has prompted a lot of calls and emails to his office.
 
He thinks the idea that came out last week is preliminary.
 
“I knew they were doing a small plan in the Dunes area. That’s what I thought the PLUZ was and now it’s grown. I think it’s just an idea that came up at a meeting and got leaked out somehow prematurely. I’ve been told by (Alberta) Environment and Parks that (there will be) lots of time for consultation and talks. Nothing has been decided yet, they’re looking at all options.”
 
This proposal would see land along the Wapiti River from the Simonette River recreation area to past Pipestone Creek, along with everything between Highway 40 and Forestry Trunk Road south past the Big Mountain Creek Recreation Area turned into one of these zones.