Vermilion River Bridge Construction Project set to Begin

Vermilion River Bridge Construction Project set to Begin

Michelle Pinon News Advertiser

Vermilion River bridge construction along Highway 16 A in Vegreville is set to begin on March 26, and is expected to end on October 15.

McKenzie Kibler, Press Secretary for Transportation Minister Ric McIver, stated, “As part of our ongoing commitment to Rural Albertans and Vegreville residents, Alberta’s government is spending $3.5 million to replace the Highway 16A over the Vermilion River. This will help improve safety and reduce future maintenance cost, while creating about 18 jobs to help get Albertans back to work.

The historic 2021-2024 capital plan commits $20.7 billion over the next three years to create 90,000 jobs as a part of Alberta’s Economic Recovery Plan. That includes billions for capital maintenance and renewal projects like the Vermillion River Bridge, which we expect to be underway in the coming weeks and completed by this fall.

• The work includes building a new 32m long bridge that will carry four lanes of traffic. Work will include some minor modifications to modernize the intersection with 43 street by removing some of the concrete median. These modifications will also reduce future bridge maintenance costs and improve drainage of the roadway and bridge surface.

• Two way traffic will be accommodated during construction. The project will be built in stages by demolishing the half of the old bridge while the other half carries traffic, then building half of the new bridge, then moving traffic to the new bridge while the second half of the new bridge is built.

• No additional traffic lights are needed as a single lane of traffic in each direction will be maintained throughout the project. Speed will be reduced to 30km/hr through the site. Flag people may be occasionally required for short periods to guide large material into the site.