Bridges over Anthony Henday Drive could open this fall, but only if Mother Nature co-operates.
Flatiron-Graham-Parsons, the company building the expressway, hopes to open the bridges at 170 Street, St. Albert Trail and 97 Street within about a month, but they will need good weather.
“We are working feverishly on 170 Street, St. Albert Trail, 97 Street. We are trying to get traffic on to those bridges in each of those locations,” said Mark Basher, deputy project manager.
Basher said the company has two to three weeks of weather-dependent work that they need to get done before traffic can be diverted onto the new bridge structures. If the weather holds, traffic could be on them in a month.
Rainy and wet weather has put a damper on their plans, but the ring road should still open on time, said Basher.
“We had high expectations that we would have achieved more than we have achieved because we have had to put up with long periods of wet weather, but we are still on schedule to open end of October next year.”
The city’s connections to the expressway are also moving forward fairly quickly and they are hoping to see them open this fall.
The city has been working on upgrades to Boudreau Road and Veness Road, which will connect to Anthony Henday Drive when completed.
Project manager Larry Gayle said the city is closing in on completion for that project, but it will come down to weather to see if it can be completely finished.
“We are coming along good with it,” he said. “If we can get another good week or week-and-a-half, we should probably be pretty much done.”
He said the only part of the project that might not be completed would be the landscaping and final paving.
The project involves widening Boudreau Road near the Gold Dust Casino all the way to Veness Road, which also is being widened.
The city will also be doing upgrades on Sir Winston Churchill, connecting it to a re-aligned 137 Avenue and taking the re-aligned road across to Ray Gibbon Drive.
Gayle said he is optimistic the city will be able to get started on that project, saying it will be completed before the Henday is complete.
“We could start road construction by the end of May and hopefully get open before the Anthony Henday gets open.”
