The Alberta government, the Municipal District of Greenview and County of Grande Prairie have reached a cost-sharing agreement to twin Highway 40, south of Grande Prairie.

The project involves twinning 19 kilometres of Highway 40 from Grande Prairie to just south of the Norbord Wood Panel Plant, and will include a second bridge across the Wapiti River as well as numerous bridge structure and intersection improvements. The cost-sharing agreement means construction related activities, such as relocation of utilities and land clearing, can now begin as early as this summer.

Ric McIver, Minister of Transportation commented, “Our focus in Transportation is on maintaining our existing highways instead of building new ones, but projects like twinning Highway 40 are important for economic development and job creation. We need to think creatively about how to fund projects like this if we want them to move forward quickly, and that’s exactly what we did. The MD of Greenview and County of Grande Prairie’s agreement to cost-share means that Highway 40 moves off the unfunded project list and into the capital plan, accelerating construction to start this year.”

The Government of Alberta does not release cost estimates on projects until a contract has been awarded, but a project of this nature typically costs approximately $120 million.

Traffic on this segment of Highway 40 has increased by approximately 70 per cent over the last five years with approximately 10,000 vehicles travelling it every day.