Highway 2 North paving fiasco

[stefk]

Does anyone know what the story is regarding the paving of Highway #2 North between St. Albert and Morinville?

I'm assuming the cheapest bid won the contract as LaFarge had a skeleton crew doing the work and has had 6 months to pave one side of a double lane highway and for the past week there has been ZERO activity.

Lines have been painted on 75% of the road yet the speed limit is still set at 80km/hr with no paving equipment to been seen anywhere as though they have ceased operations.

And now the RCMP, the provincial Sheriffs and the County Mounties have speed traps set up everywhere and are handing out speeding tickets like its halloween candy..

Another infrastructure project that has turned into a complete gong show!

[Dweb]

Exact same thing that happened on 642 , had it down to 80km no construction equipment or employees on the highway for weeks while the local peace officer handed out speeding in a construction zone tickets , made me sick to my stomach it was nothing shy of criminal

[GeoTrekr]

That's one way to help reduce overall costs when the budget is a bit tight...

[Ken07AOVette]

Have to pay for the paving somehow?

[HyperMOA]

I work with most of the paving crews in central Alberta. At one point they had worked 21 of the previous 60 days due to weather. Of those 21 days, 8 days were early rain-outs too. Tough season for paving everywhere. Haven’t been out to Lafarge at Hwy 2 in a few weeks, but they had been paving at night.

[CasterBlaster]

It's certainly a mess. So is the fiasco of Hwy 642 that runs through Morinville and connects Hwy 28 and Hwy 2. They did that chip seal and the gravel on the Hwy was outrageous, even driving slow you were getting peppered due to oncoming and passing vehicles. Lost a windshield and lots of rock kisses on my hood.

[zabbo]

Originally Posted by stefk

Does anyone know what the story is regarding the paving of Highway #2 North between St. Albert and Morinville?

I'm assuming the cheapest bid won the contract as LaFarge had a skeleton crew doing the work and has had 6 months to pave one side of a double lane highway and for the past week there has been ZERO activity.

Lines have been painted on 75% of the road yet the speed limit is still set at 80km/hr with no paving equipment to been seen anywhere as though they have ceased operations.

And now the RCMP, the provincial Sheriffs and the County Mounties have speed traps set up everywhere and are handing out speeding tickets like its halloween candy..

Another infrastructure project that has turned into a complete gong show!

You should try getting around in S.W. Calgary. The ring road, Anderson Road and 14 th street have been a gong show for 4 years!

[lyallpeder]

Originally Posted by HyperMOA

I work with most of the paving crews in central Alberta. At one point they had worked 21 of the previous 60 days due to weather. Of those 21 days, 8 days were early rain-outs too. Tough season for paving everywhere. Haven’t been out to Lafarge at Hwy 2 in a few weeks, but they had been paving at night.

Can you tell me, didn’t the NDP bring in some rule about construction zones being no more than Xkm long or something?

[gevarm guy]

I have noticed in Montana the lower speed limits in construction zones also say
"when workers present" which would be nice here.
But then their mandate is not to just write tickets for the coffers like here...

[270person]

Originally Posted by stefk

Does anyone know what the story is regarding the paving of Highway #2 North between St. Albert and Morinville?

I'm assuming the cheapest bid won the contract as LaFarge had a skeleton crew doing the work and has had 6 months to pave one side of a double lane highway and for the past week there has been ZERO activity.

Lines have been painted on 75% of the road yet the speed limit is still set at 80km/hr with no paving equipment to been seen anywhere as though they have ceased operations.

And now the RCMP, the provincial Sheriffs and the County Mounties have speed traps set up everywhere and are handing out speeding tickets like its halloween candy..

Another infrastructure project that has turned into a complete gong show!

I used to really like St Ab. The trail would take 5 minutes to navigate north/south. Now it's a complete joke. Uncoordinated lights and the Trail down to one lane in places for most of the summer. Ray Gibbons drive is just as bad or worse all because it was built improperly and the special interest groups were worried about a few ducks getting whacked coming off Big Lake and the river. With the new development on the north side of St Ab things have slowed to a crawl most days. Speed limit is posted at 70 but most do 60 or less. Clogged with school buses, semis, construction vehicles, lawn care company rigs, and doddlers. God forbid if there's an accident on Gibbons. You're parked with no way out until it's cleared up.

Now a new traffic signal is about to fire up north of Costco to slow things down even more getting out of the rat snarl.

Speed limits on hwy 2 north to Morinville are confusing to say the least. 50? 60? 80? 100? Paving work on east/west accesses that go nowhere and county Mounties just waiting to nail drivers po'd they had to spend 30 minutes trying to get around that mess of a city. Half the time I do the 40k road east through Cardiff to take 97 into Edm. Sometimes I take 127 north past the remand to connect with 37....oh but wait...that was closed at times this summer as well.

Basically it all comes down to Sturgeon County and St Albert not being capable of organizing a sock drawer when it comes to planning. The city of St Ab outgrew its road infrastructure 20 years ago.

[CMichaud]

Originally Posted by 270person

I used to really like St Ab. The trail would take 5 minutes to navigate north/south. Now it's a complete joke. Uncoordinated lights and the Trail down to one lane in places for most of the summer. Ray Gibbons drive is just as bad or worse all because it was built improperly and the special interest groups were worried about a few ducks getting whacked coming off Big Lake and the river. With the new development on the north side of St Ab things have slowed to a crawl most days. Speed limit is posted at 70 but most do 60 or less. Clogged with school buses, semis, construction vehicles, lawn care company rigs, and doddlers. God forbid if there's an accident on Gibbons. You're parked with no way out until it's cleared up.

Now a new traffic signal is about to fire up north of Costco to slow things down even more getting out of the rat snarl.

Speed limits on hwy 2 north to Morinville are confusing to say the least. 50? 60? 80? 100? Paving work on east/west accesses that go nowhere and county Mounties just waiting to nail drivers po'd they had to spend 30 minutes trying to get around that mess of a city. Half the time I do the 40k road east through Cardiff to take 97 into Edm. Sometimes I take 127 north past the remand to connect with 37....oh but wait...that was closed at times this summer as well.

Basically it all comes down to Sturgeon County and St Albert not being capable of organizing a sock drawer when it comes to planning. The city of St Ab outgrew its road infrastructure 20 years ago.

I agree. Highway 2 is a mess and the Ray Gibbons is a joke.

You can go from Edmonton to Calgary without a street light but St Albert has at least 17 along the highway before you get to the Edmonton limits. St Albert also keeps annexing land North and adding new lights. IIRC - there is no stop light anywhere on the Deerfoot as you go through Calgary and head south.

Rainfall was extremely high in July but August and September have been average. I suspect this was the age old game of over promise and under deliver with little to no consequence.

1. They need to throw up a green belt around St Albert or force future developments to use overpasses.

2. They need to link Hwy 37 to the bypass

3. They need to expand RG to two lanes

4. They need to get the highway north fixed yesterday. Dale Nally needs to get involved and earn his pay.

Just my 2 cents!

[stefk]

Originally Posted by 270person

I used to really like St Ab. The trail would take 5 minutes to navigate north/south. Now it's a complete joke. Uncoordinated lights and the Trail down to one lane in places for most of the summer. Ray Gibbons drive is just as bad or worse all because it was built improperly and the special interest groups were worried about a few ducks getting whacked coming off Big Lake and the river. With the new development on the north side of St Ab things have slowed to a crawl most days. Speed limit is posted at 70 but most do 60 or less. Clogged with school buses, semis, construction vehicles, lawn care company rigs, and doddlers. God forbid if there's an accident on Gibbons. You're parked with no way out until it's cleared up.

Now a new traffic signal is about to fire up north of Costco to slow things down even more getting out of the rat snarl.

Speed limits on hwy 2 north to Morinville are confusing to say the least. 50? 60? 80? 100? Paving work on east/west accesses that go nowhere and county Mounties just waiting to nail drivers po'd they had to spend 30 minutes trying to get around that mess of a city. Half the time I do the 40k road east through Cardiff to take 97 into Edm. Sometimes I take 127 north past the remand to connect with 37....oh but wait...that was closed at times this summer as well.

Basically it all comes down to Sturgeon County and St Albert not being capable of organizing a sock drawer when it comes to planning. The city of St Ab outgrew its road infrastructure 20 years ago.

You took the words right out of my mouth! Zero vision and couldn’t plan a two car parade!

[Dean2]

So, how many of you have actually picked up a phone and talked to Dally Nally and Alanna Hnatiw about the issues with the paving. Recreational venting on here is fun but it really doesn't generate any effective remedies.

[HyperMOA]

Originally Posted by lyallpeder

Can you tell me, didn’t the NDP bring in some rule about construction zones being no more than Xkm long or something?

Not too sure about that, I don’t set up signage. Not my dept. I know that the hwy 2 job was actually 4 different jobs (at least) in one. There was milling crews, base repairs, bridge repairs, and paving crews working the same “job” so the length of that construction zone may be effected by that.

[HyperMOA]

I should actually make a statement that this has been a poor season for all road construction, not just paving crews. The summer was ridiculously wet and when the rain slowed the ground was so saturated that many jobs are still months behind. Tough year for road construction. It’s very tough to build a road out of jambalaya.

[mooseknuckle]

Originally Posted by HyperMOA

I should actually make a statement that this has been a poor season for all road construction, not just paving crews. The summer was ridiculously wet and when the rain slowed the ground was so saturated that many jobs are still months behind. Tough year for road construction. It’s very tough to build a road out of jambalaya.

Agreed im in west edmonton, anyone who travels 178st knows what im talking about. But i admit, always b##ched about the condition of the road and sidewalks as i ride my bike half the year. Now with huge construction i b##ch about that. Lol. Going to be really nice when finished, cops sitting there today. Despite 409 no left turns everyone still doea and its causing major delays. Cops had 14 vehicles stopped. All the tickets could likely pay for the construction.

[jstubbs]

From everything I have heard construction timelines of nearly everything outdoors got killed this year with all the rain, with HyperMOA confirming that.

Here is a question from a guy who doesn’t know **** all about road construction: why is it sometimes a fair stretch of road can get ripped up and repaved with all construction wrapping up in a few days, while sometimes it takes weeks/months?

Take Winterburn Rd just south of the Yellowhead. About two weeks ago they stripped and repaved a good section of road right along Acklands Grainger in no joke two days. Are a lot of the longer running jobs requiring regrading and multiple other upgrades that add an immense amount of time or what?

Or on Wayne Gretzky drive they’re replacing the concrete median barriers (plus the concrete beneath them) and it has been blocking lanes all summer. But to my eye looks like all they have to do is have an excavator hammer and scoop the old barrier and concrete out (how long does that really take?) and then ensure it’s all cut out properly, then get the forms ready and start pouring the concrete. Seems like it would be a fairly quick job, even if they’re doing 1 km of road. I know there is a ton I am missing, but when most of the time I drive by the site and see 15 workers there, 12 of which are just standing around a truck talking, I get suspicious that these projects take WAY longer than they really do.

[Redrider]

Ray Gibbon will be tie in to Hwy 37 and Hwy 2 in the future, but that will be in 20 to 30 years. Just going to have deal with the St Albert **** show.

[stefk]

Originally Posted by Dean2

So, how many of you have actually picked up a phone and talked to Dally Nally and Alanna Hnatiw about the issues with the paving. Recreational venting on here is fun but it really doesn't generate any effective remedies.

There’s a reason why I started this thread...I called BOTH Dale Nally and Alanna Hnatiw as well as the provincial infrastructure coordinator mid last week with no returned calls...hence why I’m asking here...I can’t be the only one who has tried getting some answers...

[HyperMOA]

Originally Posted by jstubbs

From everything I have heard construction timelines of nearly everything outdoors got killed this year with all the rain, with HyperMOA confirming that.

Here is a question from a guy who doesn’t know **** all about road construction: why is it sometimes a fair stretch of road can get ripped up and repaved with all construction wrapping up in a few days, while sometimes it takes weeks/months?

Take Winterburn Rd just south of the Yellowhead. About two weeks ago they stripped and repaved a good section of road right along Acklands Grainger in no joke two days. Are a lot of the longer running jobs requiring regrading and multiple other upgrades that add an immense amount of time or what?

Or on Wayne Gretzky drive they’re replacing the concrete median barriers (plus the concrete beneath them) and it has been blocking lanes all summer. But to my eye looks like all they have to do is have an excavator hammer and scoop the old barrier and concrete out (how long does that really take?) and then ensure it’s all cut out properly, then get the forms ready and start pouring the concrete. Seems like it would be a fairly quick job, even if they’re doing 1 km of road. I know there is a ton I am missing, but when most of the time I drive by the site and see 15 workers there, 12 of which are just standing around a truck talking, I get suspicious that these projects take WAY longer than they really do.

Every job will depend on many variables. A simple shallow mill and fill could see a few km’s of road in a single day. Other jobs can take substantially more time. If the mill breaks/cuts through additional base repairs may be required. If the material that was milled is to be recycled you can’t pave behind the mill as the milled material must be trucked and reintegrated in an asphalt plant. Adding lanes, boulevards, lights, etc can take a long time as that could be several different “trades”, permits and inspections required to proceed to the next stop.

You mention breaking up concrete; that is an interesting one. It requires so many people it’s ridiculous. The hoe operator, his grade man, up to 4 people to control traffic and pedestrians, someone trying to expose or watch for services, a guy to organize the trucks to/from, city safety watch........