Skip to content

Highway 2 corridor study in the works

A high level study of the Highway 2 corridor between the Edmonton and Calgary ring roads is underway.

A high level study of the Highway 2 corridor between the Edmonton and Calgary ring roads is underway.

Alberta Transportation detailed the goals of the plan in a letter to the town with four main objectives:

* Review and combine previous corridor plans;

* Corridor review and assessment: planners will assemble existing land-use-plans from municipalities for long-term traffic projections and to see stress points and expansion opportunities;

* Other options: reviewing alternative north/south corridors and to look at other routes to manage congestion points;

* Implementation of the plan.

While no formal public consultation is expected, municipalities will be asked to identify their future plans along the corridor, explained Transportation ministry press secretary Aileen Machell in an email. “This will help determine future traffic volumes and identify stress points and highway expansion requirements on the QEII.”

The Town of Ponoka has annexed land on the east side of Highway 2 interchange and Ponoka County already has businesses on the west side of the highway.

It is early days in the study and Machell said it is too early to speculate on how it will affect the town, however, the interchanges along the highway are considered essential for the safe operation of freeway corridors.

The study team, comprised of Cima Canada (lead consultant), Alterra Engineering and Castleglenn Consultants, expects to complete the study by December, 2017.