Construction on tap for bustling section of QEII and it's going to take a while
Some major construction is on the way for a bustling portion of the Queen Elizabeth II (QEII) highway in central Alberta.
A stretch of the QEII highway will undergo various improvements to approximately 11 kilometres of the highway in the Red Deer area.
“This work will support enhanced highway capacity and improve safety,” the Alberta government stated.
Government of Alberta
The project will be completed in three sections, which are in various stages of development.
Section A
This section includes replacing the existing QEII overpass over the Canadian National (CN) railway line, north of Red Deer. Two new, three-lane bridges will replace the existing pair of two-lane bridges built in the early 1960s. The new bridges will be built outside of the existing bridges. The highway will be realigned onto the new bridges and widened to three lanes in each direction.
The Province says design work is already done and tendering is anticipated to be complete in 2025. Construction is anticipated to begin later this year and take about a year to complete.
The Province says the design of this section is currently underway and is anticipated to conclude in 2026. Construction has not yet begun on the Provincial Construction Program.
Section C
This section is the largest and most complex part of the project. In addition to widening the highway between the 32nd Street and 67th Street interchanges, the two existing Red Deer River bridges will be replaced. These two-lane river bridges were built in the early 1960s and will be replaced by two new, wider structures, both to be located east of the existing bridges.
This stretch of the highway will be realigned with the new bridges with 3 travel lanes and an additional auxiliary lane in each direction, between the 32nd Street and 67th Street interchanges, for a total of eight lanes. The new highway alignment will feature gentler horizontal and vertical curves for better sightlines, providing a smoother and safer drive through the river valley. The Highway 11 westbound bridge will also be replaced as part of this work.
The Province says the design of this section is currently underway and is anticipated to conclude in 2027. Construction has not yet begun on the Provincial Construction Program.