Roadwork next year means that traffic north of Cochrane will be detoured.
In 2024, the Ministry of Transportation is replacing culverts on Highway 579. To allow for the work, the provincial ministry asked for Cochrane council's support for the detour route, which council approved at its Oct. 10 meeting.
According to the town report, the MTO plans to replace three or four culverts on Highway 579 between Highway 11 and Concession 12&1 Road. The road is expected to be closed for 12 weeks at the longest.
The project will require the closure of Highway 579, forcing a detour route around the project area on municipal roads in Cochrane, primarily Railway Street, Genier Road and Concession 12&1 Road.
The proposed detour route is approximately 22.4 kilometres, which will add roughly 4.6 kilomtres of additional out-of-way travel and around 10 minutes of additional travel time.
Static road signs will be placed at strategic locations along the proposed detour route.
The road closure is expected to be in place between June and September of next year and, should the fourth culvert be included in the contract, the project would take an additional four to six weeks, according to the MTO.
Because the municipality has a heavy truck bylaw, the MTO asked for the vehicles to be allowed on the detour route for the duration of the project.
A contract administrator will complete pre and post-construction inspections with a sundry account provided should any damages occur to the municipal roads throughout the duration of the project, the town said.
A concern noted by Coun. Rodney Hoogenhoud is the amount of traffic running on Concession 2&3.
“Growing up in that area, that's a very, very deep culvert, which means it's going to be a fairly large excavation. Depending on the time of year when they do the excavation, there could be a major impact with heavy equipment running through Concession 2&3 knowing what the condition of that road is, particularly when it's either early spring or late fall, and the boils and stuff come up. So, just concerning from the road perspective,” he said.
In response to Hoogenhoud’s concerns, Jared Alcock, director of infrastructure services for the Town of Cochrane, said there won’t be any work done during the reduced load limit period.
Alcock also noted the bridge on Concession 12&1 Road has a pretty significant load restriction.
“And they will need to follow that. It'll be posted and the contractor will be aware that it needs to be followed. Any maintenance that needs to be done to the road will be on them,” he said.
“The consulting company for the MTO has already done a drive-through inspection with pictures, video, and everything, and created a report. I believe the contractor will have to do the same prior to the construction, which is typical for a construction project, as well as post-construction inspections as well. So they'll be well-documented and any issues we have will be addressed.”
People affected by the detour received a notice of commencement letter describing the closures and detour route. They were provided 30 days to provide any questions or comments to the MTO and none were received.
The town will said it will provide any notices from the contractor on their website and social media. The MTO will also have the contractor reach out to other media sources, such as the newspaper and radio, to broadcast the notices.
