Highway 15 Bridge Twinning | ?m | ?s

[Daveography]

Highway 15 bridge to Fort Saskatchewan to be twinned: Province
Drivers who travel to Fort Saskatchewan can soon expect less traffic headaches, as the current Highway 15 bridge is set to be twinned.

Premier Rachel Notley made the announcement in Fort Saskatchewan Thursday, noting congestion is an issue during peak driving periods.

The plan will see the construction of a second bridge over the North Saskatchewan River at the southern entrance to Fort Saskatchewan, and twinning Highway 15 and the existing bridge.

The changes will mean two lanes for two-way traffic, as the current bridge only accommodates one lane for each direction.

http://www.metronews.ca/news/edmont...-fort-saskatchewan-to-be-twinned-alberta.html

Premier Rachel Notley announces twinning of Highway 15 bridge into Fort Saskatchewan
Fort Saskatchewan — Premier Rachel Notley was in Fort Saskatchewan on Thursday to announce an expansion to Highway 15, the corridor that connects the city to Edmonton.

The plan calls for construction of a second bridge over the North Saskatchewan River at the south end of Fort Saskatchewan and twinning of the highway and existing bridge.

The project was announced in the provincial budget last week and has a cost range of $200 million to $300 million, which will be refined once the design work is finished.

The premier kicked off the news conference by offering some sympathy to anyone rolling in late to the announcement due to gridlock. Traffic has increased by 50 per cent on the bridge, which “probably feels like 500 per cent” to commuters, Notley said.

http://edmontonjournal.com/news/pol...g-of-highway-15-bridge-into-fort-saskatchewan

 

[Daveography]

Getting people moving in Fort Saskatchewan
Construction of the new Fort Saskatchewan bridge and twinning of Highway 15 will begin this construction season, creating more than 500 jobs and making it quicker and safer to move people and goods throughout the Industrial Heartland region.

Twinning of Highway 15 will be finished by the end of this year. The new bridge will be open to traffic in 2021.

Together, the projects are expected to cost $120 million to $150 million.

Quick Facts
Highway 15 twinning

• Twinning the remaining three kilometres of the two-lane section of Highway 15 toward Edmonton, between east of the intersection at Highway 15 and Highway 28A and west of the intersection at Highway 15 and Highway 37.
• Tendering has been completed.

Fort Saskatchewan bridge

• Building a second bridge over the North Saskatchewan River between east of the intersection at Highway 15 and Highway 37, crossing the North Saskatchewan River, and east of the 99 Avenue overpass in Fort Saskatchewan.
• Twinning the remaining three kilometres of Highway 15 leading to the new bridge.
• Tendering has been advertised.
• The River Valley Alliance is contributing funds for a pedestrian crossing on the bridge.

Related information
Highway 15 twinning project

Media inquiries
Government of Alberta
780-422-4905
Media relations

Getting people moving in Fort Saskatchewan

Families and businesses in Fort Saskatchewan will see critical transportation projects get underway this year.

www.alberta.ca

 

[Daveography]

Delivering on Highway 15 twinning

The province has awarded the contract for twinning of Highway 15 near Fort Saskatchewan, including construction of a second bridge over the North Saskatchewan River.

www.alberta.ca

 

[Daveography]

 

[Airboy]

Interesting that they are using this time to work on the piers of the existing bridge.

 

[Edmcowboy11]

So anyone out that way with any updates on where they are in their construction?

 

[Airboy]

Have a friend that posted on his Strava account. the main girders are up on the three north side piers. the south piers are just coming up. the road alignment is also coming along on the south side. I tend to avoid that area because of the traffic.

There are new retaining walls up along the south road. When I went through a few weeks ago, all the traffic was moved onto the west side. Looks like another year or more to finish this.

 

[westcoastjos]

Timeline

• Design work for this multi-year project began in 2017.
• Construction began in summer 2019.
• Bridge construction work will continue through fall 2021 contingent on weather and contractor progress.
• Road construction on Highway 15 within the City of Fort Saskatchewan is anticipated to starting spring 2020 with an estimated completion in fall 2020.
• Traffic flow will be restricted to a single lane in each direction and speed will be reduced to 50km/h. All ramps of the 99 Avenue overpass will remain open. Work includes construction of retaining walls and road widening.
• Road construction work on Highway 15 west of the river is anticipated to get underway in spring 2021.

Source

 

[CplKlinger]

Here are some pictures I took in October. Note that part of the underslung multi-use pedestrian bridge is already in place.

Back in September, a local resident also shared a video of the progress with his drone:

https://www.reddit.com/r/FortSaskatchewan/comments/ix6ywo

 

[CplKlinger]

Update as of December 8th, 2020:

• "Work continues on the west side of the North Saskatchewan River
• Work is underway on the portion of Hwy 15 within the City of Fort Saskatchewan limits.
• Fort Centre Park Trail Closures in effect August 26, 2019 - October 1, 2022
• More Project Information"

 

[CplKlinger]

Someone took another video of the bridge progress with a drone a few days ago:

https://www.reddit.com/r/FortSaskatchewan/comments/k9zhew

 

[Airboy]

Nice to see they are building the capacity to expand it in the future. Also looks like a MUP path is being added underneath.

 

[CplKlinger]

Nice to see they are building the capacity to expand it in the future. Also looks like a MUP path is being added underneath.

Good eye, that is a MUP! It'll be 4 meters wide, feature lookout points along the way for those who want to take in the view, and it'll also feature plaques along its length that give an overview of the history of Fort Saskatchewan and Sturgeon County. The MUP costs around $4.5 million; Alberta Transportation and the River Valley Alliance are each paying a third, and Fort Sask and Sturgeon County split the last third 60/40 respectively I believe. Fort Sask will also handle the routine maintenance of the MUP.

An underslung MUP was one of three options considered for a pedestrian river crossing. The first option was the rehabilitation of the old railway bridge piers to accommodate a separate pedestrian bridge, and the second option was a sidewalk on the surface of the bridge. I would have preferred that they made use of the piers, but an underslung MUP is definitely better than a sidewalk.

Sources/more reading:

$4.5M pedestrian bridge en route

City council is building bridges. Literally.

www.fortsaskatchewanrecord.com

Pedestrian bridge design phase currently underway

It will be a few years yet before anyone walks across Fort Saskatchewan's Highway 15 pedestrian bridge. The $4.5 million foot crossing over the North Saskatchewan River is currently in the design phase, with about six months left to go before the next steps in the project begin. Construction...

fortsaskonline.com

 

[Airboy]

The MUP will complete an easier loop riding out to the Fort. When the new foot bridge is built in the east end that loop adds gravel and MTB loops.

 

[CplKlinger]

The MUP will complete an easier loop riding out to the Fort. When the new foot bridge is built in the east end that loop adds gravel and MTB loops.

Where are the trails across from the Fort in Sturgeon? I hear that there's some near the river, but I haven't seen them when I've driven nearby. Are they MUPs, or gravel trails?