Improvements to Highway 88 north of Slave Lake will not take a decade to complete, says Alberta Minister of Transportation and Economic Corridors Devin Dreeshen.

During the Aug. 11 roundtable with rural journalists, The Leader asked Dreeshen for an update on the three-phase Highway 88 project and how long the work is expected to take.

“It will be a lot faster than a decade, I can guarantee that,” said Dreeshen.

Dreeshen said the Highway 88 widening project came from conversations with the local MLA and municipal councils in Slave Lake.

He explained that the province could have simply repaved the highway, but doing so would not have addressed existing safety concerns.

“We could have very easily just done a repaving of it, but obviously the narrow sections of that road, once you just repave, you’re making that road even narrower,” said Dreeshen.

He added that some sections of Highway 88 essentially have no shoulders.
Repaving would have provided a smoother highway, he said, but would not have addressed the need to widen the road.

“So, widening does obviously take more time,” said Dreeshen.

The project has been divided into three sections.

Dreeshen said engineering and design work, land acquisition and moving utilities can add time to a highway widening project. Power lines and pipelines may also have to be dealt with before construction can move forward.

Breaking Highway 88 into three sections allows work on the easier portions of the project to begin sooner, Dreeshen said.

Dreeshen said utility moves took place last year, allowing construction and paving to get underway as soon as possible.

However, later phases of the project have additional challenges.

“There’s a rail line that we have to deal with through one of those sections, and to be able to get approvals and work with a rail line is going to take some time,” he said.

Federal permits may also be required for some of the expansion work.
Dreeshen said the province is working to get the project completed as quickly as possible.
Highway 88 is becoming increasingly important as vehicle and commercial traffic increase in the province, he added.

“Highway 88 is a very major, major route,” said Dreeshen.

He said the province wants the project completed in a safe and efficient manner.
Dreeshen also credited advocacy from the M.D. of Lesser Slave River, Town of Slave Lake and the local MLA for moving the project forward.

Keeping unsafe trucks off the road

The Leader also asked Dreeshen whether Alberta’s increased enforcement against unsafe and “chameleon” commercial carriers will result in additional vehicle inspections or enforcement in the Slave Lake region and other parts of northern Alberta.

According to the news release that the Minister sent, chameleon carriers are trucking companies that attempt to avoid regulatory oversight by changing names, creating new companies or relocating their operations.

Alberta has issued 443 administrative penalties since October and removed 20 unsafe carriers from Alberta roads, 13 of which the province identified as chameleon carriers.

Dreeshen explained that responsibility for commercial trucking oversight is divided between Transportation and Economic Corridors and the Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services.

Commercial vehicle inspection stations belong to Transportation and Economic Corridors, he said, but the officers conducting enforcement now fall under the Alberta Sheriffs and the public safety ministry.

“Obviously, we set the rules and the expectations of the industry, and then the enforcement arm of the actual vehicle inspections is done under the Public Safety Ministry,” said Dreeshen.

Transportation and Economic Corridors continues to oversee the audit side of commercial trucking.

Dreeshen said this includes monitoring trucking companies, how they operate, their safety fitness certificates, and commercial driver training schools.
The two ministries work together when regulations change and on efforts to improve road safety.

“It’s kind of a hand-in-glove situation with them,” said Dreeshen.

Dreeshen did not announce any specific increase in commercial vehicle inspections for the Slave Lake region during the roundtable.

However, he said the province wants to ensure its auditing and enforcement work is coordinated with public safety.

“We want to make sure, if we’re doing everything we can on the audit side and our enforcement side, that we’re making sure that public safety is working with us as well to make our roads safer,” he said.

Julia Magsombol
Lakeside Leader