Highway 28 shovels in the ground in 2025?

MLA Scott Cyr said at the Aug. 13 city council meeting that the hope is to shovels in the ground in 2025 for work on Highway 28.

Initially, $5 million has been set aside by the province on engineering and design work for Highway 28 upgrades that includes potential twinning Bonnyville to Cold Lake, passing lanes from Smoky Lake to Cold Lake, intersection upgrades, grade widening, curve reconstruction, and safety rest areas. That was announced in April 2023. 

But local municipal councils were not pleased in the 2024 provincial budget to see no long-term dollars earmarked in capital plans on improvements.

Mayor Craig Copeland respond on to Cyr’s statement on the last Morning After.

“We’ll see what happens,” said Copeland.

“Right now Highway 28 is still pretty quiet. There’s some pavement overlays that have happened in the past spring and summer. Highway 28 is a huge hazard. Our issue on council is that we’ve waited for some kind of signal that they were coming and investing in our area.

“I looked it up and it was over $3 billion in a general M.D. of Bonnyville radius (paid in oil revenue royalties)…we’re just this cow that keeps on giving. Whether it’s the schools, the expansions, the hospitals, Highway 28, investment in this region has been lacking.”