Highway 40 (photo by Shaun Penner)

By Liam Verster

Twinning Highway 40

County to provide $10-million for Highway 40 twinning project

Aug 12, 2020 | 12:38 PM

County of Grande Prairie Council has approved a $10-million contribution towards the project that will see 19 kilometres of Highway 40 twinned, and an additional bridge built over the Wapiti River.

Reeve Leanne Beaupre says the amount of funding is proportional to the amount of road that’s within the County of Grande Prairie’s boundary. She adds that it will help take the burden off the M.D. of Greenview, who previously announced that they would contribute half the cost of the project, up to $60-million, over the next two years.

READ MORE: Joint partnership will see stretch of Highway 40 twinned

Beaupre says the Provincial Government, the other partner in this project, is still doing preliminary work.

“From what I understand with conversations with Alberta Transportation, they’re in the process of purchasing land from some of the land-owners that are along Highway 40. My understanding is that they’ve got several already signed up, and that they’re working with others.”

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She adds that the Province plans to have Requests for Proposals out soon, so they can begin the next step in the project, actually moving dirt and starting construction work.

The initial plan when the joint partnership was announced in February was to have the work begin in the summer, and Beaupre adds it would be really beneficial to have this work begin as soon as possible.

“Especially with the economic downturn and maybe the highway not being quite as busy. It certainly creates opportunity not only for other employment, but also doesn’t create a logistical nightmare for those who are trying to use Highway 40 if it’s a bit quieter.”

The County plans to divide their contribution over the next three years, with $3.333-million being spent on the project in 2021, 2022 and 2023.