You may have noticed a sign on Yankee Valley Boulevard recently saying changes are coming to traffic patterns on that roadway starting tomorrow (August 16).

Adam Carroll, Capital Projects Manager with the City of Airdrie's Engineering Services explained that as the road widening project on that street progresses, they will be modifying traffic so they can keep working.

"We're taking a two lane roadway and creating a four lane, divided arterial roadway. We have paved the eastbound lanes, they'll be completed by the 16th, weather depending of course. Once we do that, we're going to transfer traffic to a two lane direction from eastbound and westbound Yankee Valley Boulevard."

The two way traffic on the new eastbound lanes will run from Chinook Winds Drive to 24th Street. At that point, the City will demolish the existing Yankee Valley roadway in order to construct the westbound lanes. Carroll said that work, and the traffic pattern changes, should take about 35 to 40 days and will be done sometime mid-September. During that time, there will be increased traffic cones and signage, and the speed limit will be reduced to 30 kilometers per hour.

"They have to remove the existing roadway, they have to carve out the road way, put in sufficient base and gravels in order to build this arterial roadways so it's going to be at least a month, maybe a month and a half."

Carroll explained once the westbound lanes are done, there is a little more work that needs to be done, like curb and gutter handties, streetlight installation and landscaping.

"We're going to be doing a median landscaping treatment all the way down from the Chinook Gate to 24th Street at the same time."

Carroll was emphatic that the work will all be complete before the snow starts falling, and they have a goal to finish by mid-October while also ensuring the projects quality.

"We want to build it right once and not have to worry about it in the future."

 

Questions, comments or story ideas? Email us at news@discoverairdrie.com