Twinning Highway 3 will open doors for value-added agriculture

By Trevor Busch - Lethbridge Herald on August 19, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDtbusch@lethbridgeherald.com

With the provincial and federal government eyeing the Lethbridge hinterland as a prime location for the expansion of value-added agriculture, pressure will continue to mount to see Highway 3 twinned from border to border.

“Where we’re at right now, we’re embarking on an impact analysis study that will be done by PriceWaterhouseCooper. It will provide an economic impact analysis of what twinning Highway 3 will do for Alberta,” said Bill Chapman, president of the Highway 3 Twinning Development Association (H3TDA). “It’s just getting underway right now so we don’t have any new details, other than they will be meeting with at least 20 different stakeholders in the industry and around southern Alberta that will be a part of the impact assessment.”

Chapman says the assessment is expected to be delivered to the association in the fall, probably in November. H3TDA currently has four priorities for twinning the remaining single-lane stretches of Highway 3.

“The priorities that we’ve established are from Medicine Hat to Seven Persons. I think the second one is west of Fort Macleod, Bellevue to Pincher Station, and the third priority would be I think the functional planning study that the province is embarking on for the Piikani section of Highway 3, and the fourth one would be the Stage 1A, as they call it, in Fort Macleod, just a little short bypass on the south side of town.”

Following a multi-million dollar announcement from the UCP government in 2020, plans are now well underway to twin the 46 kilometre stretch east of Taber.

“They’ve already gotten 95 per cent of the acquisitions of the land along Highway 3 from Taber to Burdett, I think that’s pretty much done,” said Chapman. “They’ve been auctioning off all the buildings, and those sorts of things that would be on those lands. I don’t have a really good answer, other than we could see either late fall or early next spring.”

H3TDA views twinning the highway as a gateway to enhanced economic development throughout southern Alberta.

“Twinning of Highway 3 is certainly the key infrastructure to the whole agri-food industry, and the whole corridor for southern Alberta,” said Chapman. “We believe that will be the centrepiece which will become the transport pipeline for all the economic development that occurs down here, including recreation and tourism. Further to that, the government of Alberta is really focusing on our corridor area to be the capital of Canada in terms of the agri-food industry. We know that our population is going to grow here in Alberta. I think there would be a vision for governments moving forward, we will become the second-largest trading community and economic generator in Canada. With that, there will be a lot of pressures on municipalities everywhere in Alberta to improve on their infrastructure and utilities and everything else that goes with it so that we can become that generator for economic development.”

Established businesses and industry will benefit from a fully-twinned highway, says Chapman, but it may also open doors for development in many other areas.

“I know that Highway 3, in and of itself, is certainly one of the key components that the government is utilizing. Already we know there’s $1 billion worth of finances put into water and irrigation, which are components which the government is using build that infrastructure for southern Alberta and the agri-food industry in particular. Other benefits will include escape tourism, recreation, other businesses associated with agriculture. Education will be a big part in southern Alberta. And we just know that we’re in the right place at the right time with a lot of the investment that the government is putting into infrastructure.”

Safety is a key component of the H3TDA’s argument for getting the twinning completed, and the organization has been campaigning for the incorporation of future rest stops.

“One of the key things that we’re looking at doing here is rest stops, and the importance of rest stops along Highway 3. They were not initially in the master plan for construction – we’ve pushed hard to have those implemented and currently there will be at least two, if not four, along Highway 3 in the Grassy Lake area facing east and west, and I think west of Fort Macleod as well. We’re pleased that the government recognizes that safety is an important aspect. Particularly for those in the transport industry, it will be a critical thing for their safety and movement of goods and services across Canada.”