The provincial government has designated $110 million to go toward improving key infrastructure across the province damaged by the June floods, including roads and bridges.
“Certainly we’ve done a lot already,” said Parker Hogan, press secretary with Alberta Transportation, adding that 90 per cent of the roads and bridges affected by the flooding along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains have been re-opened, although some are considered temporary fixes in need of future updating.
Hogan explained that $40 million has been allocated for mitigation work so far, with an additional $70 million allotted for the next three years to protect high-priority sites with respect to potential future flooding.
The funds will go toward updating bridges, building decks, culverts, repairs and modification for debris-removal systems to prevent future drainage clogging in times of heavy rainfall or flooding.
“What took us years and years to build took Mother Nature minutes, hours, a few days to destroy.”
Hogan said that Alberta Transportation would continue work with engineers and contractors to prioritize the workload by spring of 2014, at which time tenders for construction would be put out.
Focal area roadways include Highway 758 at Bragg Creek, Highway 1 at Cougar Creek and Dead Man’s Flats and Jura Creek in Exshaw.
