The City of St. Albert is looking to have a rural property adjacent to St. Albert Trail demolished as part of the Fowler Way development process.
Fowler Way, which is still in the design stage, will eventually become an arterial road that connects St. Albert Trail to Ray Gibbon Drive in the northeast part of the city. The road will connect to St. Albert Trail at the Neil Ross Road intersection, which is adjacent to the Costco parking lot.
The rural home and auxiliary buildings (sheds and a barn) soon to be demolished are located immediately west of the intersection.
The city had an “amicable purchase” process with the former homeowners in 2021, city spokesperson Nicole Lynch said, although she did not say how much the city paid for the land. The city's LandScape Interactive Map show's the property had a tax assessment value of $810,000 last year.
“Fowler Way is in the early design stage and once the design is completed, the city will use it to finalize road right-of-way requirements and advance further land acquisition,” Lynch said. “Further design details will help inform on any additional considerations to empower the construction to occur.”
Council approved the use of $3.9 million for land costs for Fowler Way as part of the city's 2019 budget.
According to a Request for Proposals (RFP) the city published earlier this month, it wants a demolition company to complete the project before the end of September.
“The property previously consisted of a main home with a basement. The home has been removed from the foundation and is scheduled to be hauled away by others prior to this project commencing,” the RFP says. “A garage of wood-frame construction and concrete slab-on grade foundation is located on the lot. There are multiple small sheds and a former barn among the treed area behind the main house.”
“All environmental abatement, hazardous materials removal and disposal, and (demolition) and removal and disposal work are the responsibility of the contractor and is to be done in accordance with all rules and regulations.”
The contractor will also need to remove a water well and underground septic tank, the RFP says.
The city's RFP does not provide a preferred budget for the project.
Lynch said the city is approximately 60 per cent finished with preliminary design work, with the remaining expected to be completed sometime next year. As part of the 2023 budget, city council approved spending $4.4 million on high-level design work, additional land acquisition, and permitting.
Further design work is planned for 2027 for an estimated cost of $3.35 million, according to the most up-to-date project charter.
Actual construction of the new arterial road isn't planned to begin until 2028; however, before construction can begin council will need to approve a budget of at least $54.25 million, the project charter says.
Construction is expected to take three years.
