Highway 3 twinning association excited to see work get underway

By Ry Clarke - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on December 16, 2022.

Herald photo by Ian Martens Traffic travels along a two-lane portion of Highway 3 Thursday east of Taber. A recent government announcement that it is set begin work to twin remaining sections of the roadway is "fantastic news for the Highway 3 corridor," says the Highway 3 Twinning Development Association.

The province is moving forward with plans to twin Highway 3 helping to strengthen Alberta’s economic corridor between Saskatchewan and B.C.

The recent announcment by the government says it is committed to exploring options for twinning the remaining 215 kilometres of highway through Budget 2023. Funding for the project was initially announced in 2020 but was pulled back due to the pandemic. The full project is now slated to take 10 years to complete with the progress broken down into eight phases.

Phase one will see 46 kilometres between Taber and Burdett twinned with construction expected to start in 2023.

“This is fantastic news for the Highway 3 corridor,” said Bill Chapman, president of the Highway 3 Twinning Development Association. “Twinning of Highway 3 is vital for our municipal partners all along the corridor, stretching from Medicine Hat all the way through to the Crowsnest Pass. We are pleased that all municipalities, including the city of Lethbridge, have endorsed this project through membership and we are delighted to see the project move forward.”

Seeing the corridor as an economic route for the transportation of goods, the project will help deliver them faster to their destinations.

“The government has seen this economic corridor as one of the main drivers in the Alberta advantage,” said Chapman. “Agriculture is the economic heartbeat of southern Alberta, so this infrastructure twinning, the remaining…kilometres, will be the cornerstone of ensuring that the agri-business industry, along with the tourism and commuters, being able to use it as efficient and safe travel.”

The eight phases will be working to twin the 215 kilometres over 10 years. Phase one will work on Taber and Burdett. Phase 2 will be 10 kilometres in the Highway 3X and Coleman Bypass, with a detailed engineering design beginning in spring 2023. Phase 3 will be 15 kilometres east of Seven Persons to Medicine Hat. Phase 4 is 47 kilometres east of Blairmore east of Highway 6 at Pincher Creek. Phase 5 is 28 kilometres east of Bow Island to east of Seven Persons. Phase 6 will be 23 kilometres east of Burdett to east of Bow Island. Phase 7 is 38 kilometrtes from Pincher Creek to west of Fort Macleod. And Phase 8 will be 8 kilometres on the Alberta/B.C. border to Highway 3X.

“The government is saying they would like to have this complete in 10 years,” said Chapman. “The government has kept track and done traffic counts since around 1962. Today’s volumes really say a lot about what is happening in southern Alberta. The focus is on the agricultural food corridor and other industries as they come down into our area, including tourism and commuters. It taps into the need for the twinning for all various reasons.”

With the project timeline, Chapman feels confident in the work frame to complete the process.

“We are confident that this is the right time to move forward, we are pleased with the direction that the government has taken on this project,” said Chapman. “The government of Alberta certainly understands the needs in southern Alberta, especially with this economic corridor.”

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