By Aaron Mahoney

Roads

City of Lethbridge crews beginning University Drive twinning construction next week

Apr 17, 2019 | 8:00 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Road construction is scheduled to start on April 23 on the University Drive Twinning project.

Project Manager Robert Kovacs says the initial work will see crews begin stripping some of the grass near affected areas and preparing for construction.

“We’ll be working behind the curb installing the two new lanes that are going to be done, and then eventually tying them into the intersections as we get them all built.”

The expansion of University Drive to two lanes in each direction will run from north of the Community Stadium access to south of the SunRidge roundabout.

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A release from the City states this work will expand capacity helping to manage increasing traffic volumes in this area.

The entire project is scheduled to be complete in the fall of 2020, and Kovacs says they’ll be starting the two-years’ worth of construction on Tuesday, April 23.

“We’ll be gearing up to get the whole work done. There will be a break during the winter, there will be a changeover back to the city to maintain during the winter, but then we’ll be back at it next spring to complete everything.”

The initial stage of construction of the new northbound lanes will not require road closures as it will take place off University Drive in the large grassed boulevard east of the road. Drivers may experience some temporary traffic interruptions, and reduced speed limits are possible.

Kovacs says while there will be some delays during construction, they plan on having the roads open as much as they can.

“The most challenging part of this entire project was keeping the infrastructure around where the Sunridge roundabout is currently. To keep the trees and the circle where it’s at and increase the size to a multi-lane roundabout. As we get into the entrance of SunRidge, it’s tight in there, and there will be a closure in there for sure. We’ll have a detour through the back way, through the Rocky Mountain Boulevard roadway but we made sure that they’re only allowed to work on this roundabout when school is closed. That is the only major closure that is forthcoming because there’s just no other way around it as we get close to there.”

Future stages may involve partial or complete intersection closures, but additional information from the City will be issued in advance of those stages.

There’s also a new website for projects ongoing in the city: Get Involved Lethbridge.

The site is being run by Kovacs, who says this is something he’s been asking about for over a decade.

“I can update it daily if I want with pictures, detour maps, and things like that. Registered users can make comments, ask questions and can communicate directly with the people involved. They’ll be able to see real-time updates on there, and I’m hoping that this works out well. I’m available 24 hours a day if people want to phone to ask questions, but this is a way for them to communicate via social media.”