As Highway 28 degrades into “deplorable” shape, long term funding snubbed in AB Budget

Some of the adjectives used to describe the highway lately, as well as the lack of long-term funding in the budget, include: ‘deplorable’, ‘forgotten’, and a ‘slap in the face.’ 

Local leaders are again frustrated by the lack of long term financial commitment to Highway 28, or as Craig Copeland calls it – “the forgotten highway.” 

The 2025 Alberta Budget didn’t earmark any spend in the future for the extensive construction work that’s been proposed on the crucial artery to the northeast, nor have plans circulated publicly about what the initial engineering study will show. 

Cold Lake Mayor Copeland, as well as Bonnyville Mayor Elisa Brosseau, were hoping to see a one, followed by nine zeros in 2026 or 2027 long term capital planning. 

That didn’t happen. 

“It is disappointing,” said Copeland on The Morning After on Lakeland Connect.  

“The benefit of the doubt is that there is money to do design work. So that was announced and written in the budget. Now we have to see in the 2026 to 2028 numbers, that $100 million plus plus, that’s going to be required. 

“Our oilsands area, just the 14 plays that I looked at within the M.D. of Bonnyville, produced $8.6 billion or so in revenue for the province from 2021 to 2023. Highway 28 still doesn’t have any funding for the work that needs to be done. It’s a deplorable highway…we’re so long overdue. It’s just bizarre.” 

Left in the dark

Nearly two years ago at Town Hall in Bonnyville, April 2023, the original announcement of $5 million for engineering work and plans came as a welcome surprise. 

This teased the possibility of twinning HWY 28 between Bonnyville and Cold Lake, passing lanes from Smoky Lake to Cold Lake, intersection upgrades, grade widening, curve reconstruction, and safety rest areas. 

Since then, it’s materialized that Main Street Bonnyville, which is technically Highway 28, will have extensive upgrades this upcoming summer.

What those exactly look like hasn’t been public yet, but intersection upgrades, traffic lights, turning lanes, are all on the table.

However, local municipalities are still in the dark but what the highway roadway work really looks like.

Could Highway 28 bypass Bonnyville, like MLA Scott Cyr hinted as a potential in late 2023?

At the AB Munis spring conference a couple weeks ago, local leaders looked to quiz Minister of Transportation Devin Dreeshen, as well as the Treasury Board, for answers.

“I just find that this budget has been very vague and not transparent as far as where all the money is being put,” said Brosseau.

She said the message they’ve been given is that the project is in the engineering phase, so therefore no future dollars have been allocated yet.

“Well that’s not good enough. If they are telling us that this is something they’re putting their focus on and money towards, why don’t we see it in the budget? Is it hidden somewhere? Is there going to be some big announcement? I don’t know. But not to see anything in the budget on Highway 28 is, to me, almost a slap in the face.

“We’ve been discussing and lobbying and having all these meetings, and they say, yes it’s coming…then not to see anything in the budget — it’s a big hole. There’s a lot of questions that need to be answered.”

Highway spend in the billions

As each mayor pointing out, there were wins for the area in the provincial budget, including a new Urgent Care Centre in Cold Lake, education funding that could mean new schools in Cold Lake, CFEP grant dollars that helped the Clayton Bellamy Foundation theatre project, Glendon Arena, Stepping Stones Crisis Society, and others.

But as far as Highway 28, it for the moment remains below the likes of:

• Highway 63 twinning north of Fort McMurray ($101 million)
• Highway 881 safety and improvements ($141 million)
• Highway 40 widening between Hinton and Grand Cache ($69 million)
• Highway 11 twinning between Sylvan Lake and Rocky Mountain House ($208 million)
• Highway 3 twinning between Taber and east of Burdett ($106 million)