There will be no shortage of roadwork taking place in St. Albert this summer.
1. North St. Albert Trail Phase 3
The third and final phase of the north St. Albert Trail improvement project is set to get underway in the coming weeks, which will take two years to complete.
City council approved a $20.5 million borrowing bylaw for this phase in September, although the phase's actual budget is $16.2 million. The additional $4.3 million covered under the borrowing bylaw is contingency funding, and cannot be used without further council approval.
Phase 3 covers the section of St. Albert Trail between Everett Drive North and Neil Ross Road. In all, this phase will see crews install an additional lane travelling both directions, realign the southbound lanes to match the work completed in Phases 1 and 2, install a new parallel pedestrian trail as well as traffic signals and all necessary utility infrastructure.
This section of the Trail, as well as the section between Neil Ross Road and just north of Ernest Boulevard, will also be repaved.
The $16.2 million in debt for this phase of the project is in addition to the $26 million the city took on to cover the first two phases.
2. Giroux Road repaving
Giroux Road is scheduled to get a bit of facelift this summer, as crews will be repaving almost the entire street, reaching from St. Albert Trail to Hogan Road.
Before the repaving work begins, crews will be installing a new water main spanning half a kilometre between Hogan Road and Bellerose Composite High School. There will also be some spot repairs done to curbs and stormwater basin covers, the city's website says.
“Select areas of concrete sidewalks and curb ramps will be temporarily closed for pedestrians and other active users while the restoration of the asphalt roadway takes place.”
Drivers and pedestrians alike will need to navigate a nearly two-month lane closure between Hogan Road and Bellerose Composite High School, which is already underway, while the new water main is installed, after which the road will be repaved.
3. Sturgeon Road repaving
Another significant repaving project scheduled to take place this summer is the partial repaving of Sturgeon Road.
Two sections of Sturgeon Road will be repaved, according to the city. The first section is between St. Albert Trail and the westernmost entrance to Beacon Crescent, and the second section is between Boudreau Road and Sir Winston Churchill Avenue.
The portion of Sir Winston Churchill Avenue between Sturgeon Road and Poundmaker Road will also be repaved this summer.
4. Mount Royal Drive and Mont Clare Place
After the city replaced the underground sewer collection system on Mount Royal Drive and Mont Clare Place in the Mission neighbourhood last summer, the city is now looking to install a new storm sewer collection system on the same two streets this summer, as well as a new water main.
After those pieces of infrastructure are installed and in working order, the affected roads will be reconstructed before the end of September.
“Road reconstruction work includes removing and replacing the asphalt structure, removing and replacing all concrete curbs and gutters, and completing spot repairs of sidewalks and driveway aprons as needed,” the city's website states.
The reconstruction of Mount Royal Drive and Mont Clare Place was expected to take place last year before the city identified the need to replace the existing water and storm sewer infrastructure.
5. Sidewalk being installed on Riel Drive
A new sidewalk is set to be built along Riel Drive this summer, which will see the path that currently ends at Levasseur Road continue east up until the St. Albert BMX track.
The city's website says the sidewalk will “help with connecting users to businesses, trails, bus stops and other locations within the city.”
6. St. Albert Trail water main replacement
Transit users are already feeling the effects of the St. Albert Trail water main replacement project, which has caused the temporary closure of the St. Albert Centre transit station.
The project involves installing a new water main crossing underneath the Sturgeon River parallel to the St. Albert Trail bridge, to which the existing water main is currently attached.
“In early 2022, a portion of the St. Albert Trail water main that is suspended under the St. Albert Trail bridge was damaged,” the city's website says. “The water main froze and a leak was discovered at the transition coupling between the ductile iron and steel pipes on the south side of the river crossing.”
“The water main will be repaired by installing a new water main crossing under the Sturgeon River to bypass the bridge. The existing water main on the bridge will be removed and the existing underground portions will be abandoned in place.”
Construction is expected to wrap up before the end of August, after which the St. Albert Centre transit station will re-open and the temporary station at Muir Drive and St. Vital Avenue will be converted back to a two-way stop.
7. Minor residential road repairs
A few neighbourhoods are scheduled to receive a bunch of minor road and curb repairs this summer, namely Akinsdale, Deer Ridge, Kingswood, and Woodlands.
In Akinsdale, crews will be completing curb repairs along Akins Drive, Attwood Drive, Afton Crescent, Annette Crescent, Apple Place, Amherst Crescent, and on Andrew Crescent. As well, roadway restoration, but not full reconstruction or repaving, will occur on Arlington Drive, Adrian Place, and Atkinson Place.
Abel Place and Acorn Place will see complete road repaving this year.
Similarly, Deer Ridge residents should expect to see crews repairing curbs on Deschamps Court, Deslauriers Crescent, Desjardins Terrace, Deslorme Place, Deville Place, Donald Place, Dorchester Drive, Dundas Place, and Dupuis Court.
Dressler Court, Dunbar Street, and Duncan Court will all be fully repaved, while Dumont Court will be partially reconstructed.
In Kingswood, Kelso Court, Kensington Place, Kings Gate, Kingsborough Court, Kingsbridge Close, Kingsmere Place, and Kingsview Pointe will all see partial curb repairs, while Kastle Point and Kingsway Drive will be partially reconstructed.
Besides the repaving of the adjacent section of Sturgeon Road, the road repairs in Woodlands are limited to curb repairs along Willoughby Drive.
8. Continued housing development in Cherot, Nouveau, and Riverside
Housing development will continue for another summer season in a few of St. Albert's newest neighbourhoods, namely Cherot, Nouveau, and Riverside.
Cherot is the new neighbourhood being built west of Ray Gibbon Drive on the city's north west end. The first homes in the area were built last year, as was a Paris-themed playground complete with an Eiffel Tower replica that's designed into the play structure.
Nouveau is a new addition to St. Albert's North Ridge neighbourhood and stands north of Villeneuve Road. The new homes in this area were the first zero-lot line homes to be built in St. Albert, and it was the first housing development to be built to St. Albert's required density of 40 dwelling units per hectare.
The Riverside neighbourhood, which is being built to a density of 32 units per hectare, will see continued development this summer stretching closer to Ray Gibbon Drive.
9. Sturgeon Heights Water Reservoir
Getting underway early last year, the city's Sturgeon Heights Water Reservoir replacement project is scheduled to be complete by the fall.
The reservoir is located on Sunset Boulevard and was originally built in 1957, making it the oldest such facility in St. Albert. It's one of three facilities that stores and distributes tap water throughout the city.
The project has three phases, the first of which got underway in January of last year and involved installing a new reservoir underneath what used to be a soccer field adjacent to Salisbury Avenue. Installing a reservoir is no easy feat as this phase of the project is expected to wrap up this summer, after which crews will decommission and remove the old reservoir located underground in the same field but to the west of the new facility.
Once the old reservoir is removed, crews will re-landscape the field before winter.
10. East Village
Another project that got underway last year that is set to continue this construction season is the first phase of construction of the East Village development in Erin Ridge North.
The mixed-use development, a joint undertaking by local developer Landrex as well as Fort McKay First Nation in northern Alberta, involves three new apartment buildings with a combined 183 units as well as roughly 100,000 square feet of commercial space.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held at the development on Coal Mine Road east of St. Albert Trail last summer, and Landrex president Sophie Baron told the Gazette at the time the construction of the first apartment building will take 18 months, meaning it should be complete by or shortly after the end of the year.
