Province promises start of long-awaited repairs to Highway 88 near Slave Lake

Construction is anticipated to begin this year on a 35-kilometre project to rehabilitate pavement and improve intersections on Highway 88, around the east side of Lesser Slave Lake in northern Alberta.

The work will be from the highway'sstart in the town of Slave Lake to where it intersects with Highway 754, known as the Wabasca turnoff.

The Municipal District of Lesser Slave River has spent years advocating for improved safety on the highway.

With a single lane in each direction, the road is potholed and has narrow shoulders that arecrumbling and decaying.

Murray Kerik, reeve for the Municipal District of Lesser Slave River, told CBC in an interview the highway is "an embarrassment for Alberta" that has been in need of repairs for 30 years.

Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors says it has"advanced" the paving project between Highway 2 and Highway 754, including the portion within the Town of Slave Lake, 250 km northwest of Edmonton.

"The project includes full-width pavement rehabilitation and intersection improvements. Preliminary engineering is underway and construction is anticipated to begin in 2024, subject to utility relocations, environmental regulatory approvals, and land acquisition," a ministry spokesperson said in a statement.

"Until the rehabilitation project takes place, we will continue to monitor the condition of Highway 88 to ensure safety related issues such as potholes and smaller pavement failures are addressed in a timely manner."

The preliminary engineering and design work will determine the cost estimate and project timeline, Alberta Transportation said.

Highway 88 serves as a major corridor for the logging and forestry industry and the oil fields.

"It's the very central approach to the biggest oil field in northern America right now," Kerik told CBC's Edmonton AM.

He said residents and other drivers using the highway are scared of driving on the highway.

Edmonton AM5:35Why some residents in Slave Lake are calling for better upgrades for Highway 88

For years, Slave Lake residents have complained about the safety of Highway 88. It's the main artery connecting Slave Lake to Fort Vermilion. Murray Kerik is the reeve for the Municipal District of Lesser Slave River. He's hoping the government acts on their promise to fix the highway.

Srini Jayaraman is director of Slave Lake operations for the Sawridge Group of Companies, which has a truck stop on Highway 88 in Slave Lake.

He said truckers have told him they would find an alternate route if they could because of road conditions.

"This has been a concern for many years," he said. "We've always pushed for repairs and nothing happens."

Francesca Ward, mayor of Slave Lake,said the municipal district and others in the area have had enough.

The road has been washed out multiple times. A fire truck lost a tire on the way to answer a call, she said.

Ward said the area is seeing more and more accidents on that stretch of the road.

"I think there's a lot of confusion about what the municipal responsibility is and what the provincial responsibility is," the mayor said. "Highways fall clearly under the provincial jurisdiction."

She said she wants to see more than surface repairs.

"It goes into looking at passing lanes, widening some turnouts so that large vehicles can pull over to improve the safety of the road," she said.

"This should have been a priority a long time ago."