Skip to content

Road fix comes to Morinville at last

At least 20 people filed vehicle damage claims with the province because of a botched chip-sealing attempt by Alberta Transportation on Hwy. 642 that left the road strewn with windshield-cracking, paint-chipping rocks.
2005 MorinRoadFix 2841 sup
ROUGH NO MORE – A botched repair job to Hwy. 642 left much of Morinville's main street rough and rock-strewn, as shown in this August 2018 photo. Alberta Transportation has announced that repair work on the road will start May 25. MORINVILLE NEWS/Photo

Our long municipal motoring nightmare is over: Alberta Transportation has announced it will fix the botched chip seal on Morinville’s main street later this month.

Morinville-area residents have likely noticed that Hwy. 642 between the railway tracks and Hwy. 28 has been exceptionally rough since August 2018 – the result of a botched chip-sealing attempt by Alberta Transportation that left the road strewn with windshield-cracking, paint-chipping rocks.

At least 20 people filed vehicle damage claims with the province because of the road in the months that followed. Town council complained vociferously about the road’s condition, but couldn’t do anything about it as the road was under the province’s control.

Alberta Transportation published a notice May 19 that it would begin grinding and paving Hwy. 642 between the Morinville rail crossing and Range Road 252 on May 25, weather permitting.

Alberta Transportation spokesperson Anna Neale confirmed this roughly $1-million project was meant to fix the chip seal work done in 2018, adding it would have happened last year had it not rained so much.

Neale said the work would take about three weeks, during which the highway would be reduced to one lane each direction. Parking might also be banned on some stretches. She advised drivers to expect delays and watch for workers on the road.

Mayor Barry Turner was pleased by this news, joking that “we may have popped a bottle of champagne” at his home when he received it.

“It’s been a bit of a long road,” he said, making a perhaps unintentional pun, with the town doing much work to lobby the province to take action. He thanked Morinville-St. Albert MLA Dale Nally for stepping up for the town on this issue.

Turner said the rough road was a safety hazard for drivers and motorcyclists and a wound to the community’s pride.

“Quite honestly, it looked like hell,” he said, and was not up to the town’s standards.

Turner said town residents should expect further improvements to Hwy. 642 later this year when Fortis Alberta installs streetlights leading up to the Morinville Leisure Centre.


Kevin Ma

About the Author: Kevin Ma

Kevin Ma joined the St. Albert Gazette in 2006. He writes about Sturgeon County, education, the environment, agriculture, science and aboriginal affairs. He also contributes features, photographs and video.
Read more



Comments

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks