Villeneuve Airport will be the official backup site for medevac flights once the City Centre Airport closes, says the provincial finance minister, and that could mean about $6 million in airport upgrades.
Finance minister Doug Horner confirmed this week that the province had picked Villeneuve Airport as its alternate medevac landing site. Edmonton Airports president Reg Milley had mentioned the change in a briefing to Sturgeon County council on Dec. 11.
Most medevac flights into Edmonton currently land at the City Centre Airport. Since Edmonton plans to close that airport by 2014, the province is moving its medevac flights over to the Edmonton International Airport. By law, the province has to have a backup airport ready in case those flights can’t land at the International.
Horner floated the idea of having medevac planes land at the Edmonton Garrison earlier this year, but the military shot that down in May as too expensive (they would have had to move several firing ranges).
That made Villeneuve the next best choice, Horner said, and they’ve been working on the logistics of it since this fall.
Medevac flights are typically scheduled appointments involving small, fixed-wing aircraft, said health minister Fred Horne. “If somebody has suffered major trauma, they’re going to be airlifted by helicopter directly to hospital.” STARS Air Ambulance will have a facility right next to the medevac centre at the International for swift transfers, he added.
Villeneuve will be taking medical patients unable to land at the International due to weather or other problems, Horner said. Once they land, they will be taken by ambulance to where they need to go.
The Sturgeon Community Hospital in St. Albert recently upgraded its emergency room, Horner said, and can handle any medevac patients at Villeneuve that need immediate help.
Villeneuve will have to install a new instrument landing system and lengthen one of its runways by a to-be-determined distance to handle medevac planes, Horner said, which will probably cost the province $5 to $6 million. The province is tight on cash, he noted, but this would be a high priority item.
“It’s not just an alternate for medevac,” Horner added – all small fixed-wing planes headed to the International would land at Villeneuve in emergencies. “I would like to talk to the owners out there about maybe even augmenting that ($5 to $6 million upgrade) a little bit more so you can add more versatility to that airport.”
These upgrades should be a catalyst for more service centres and businesses at the airport, said county councillor Ken McGillis, whose division includes Villeneuve. “It’s unfortunate that we didn’t receive support from our urban neighbours with the Villeneuve area structure plan,” he said, as that plan had the water and sewer upgrades an expanded airport would need.
An extended runway will have a huge economic impact on this region, said Lynda Moffat, who helped spearhead the Villeneuve Airport Joint Task Force as executive director of the St. Albert Chamber of Commerce, as it would draw more planes and customers to the airport.
Customers will also have quick access to the Anthony Henday once Ray Gibbon Drive is extended north, she said. “If you want to set up regional offices or if you’re going to have people servicing the north, we’re perfectly positioned for that.”
The province will also have to beef up the intersection of Hwys. 633 and 44, Horner said. Currently a busy two-way stop, the province had planned to eventually put a roundabout there to handle all the gravel trucks. Horner hoped to get this project started next year to speed ambulances going in and out of Villeneuve Airport, but said it would depend on the province’s finances.
McGillis welcomed the news of the roundabout, which has been on the books for some time. “From a safety point (of view), it’s long overdue.” The proposed roundabout would be a very large one similar to one found west of Calgary, he noted.
Horner said he expected work on the airport to start this spring and to be finished by the end of 2013.
