Whitemud Drive widening to slow traffic for two years

It'll be a summer of short-term pain for long-term gain for commuters who usethe east leg of Whitemud Drive.

Over the next two years, the city is widening and repaving the stretch between 17th and 75th streets in each direction.

The lanes will be constructed over the median, with a concrete divideradded once the work is completed.

The project will helpmeet greater traffic demands pushed by residential developments in the city's southeast, said Byron Nicholson, with city's transportation department.

This summer, construction crews will focus on the stretch between 50th and 75 streets, widening each direction to four lanes starting in mid-May.

Speed limits will be down to 60 km/h, but two lanes will be open in each direction at all times, Nicholson said.