Editor: We’ll probably remember it as the year they paved the wrong side of Scott Lake Hill. There was not really any stretch on this side of the hill that was crying out for major work, but plenty of spots on the other side that are a bit of a joke.
Cool that somebody shamed the contractors into at least throwing a different colour of surface on the load-shifting launch pad at the east side bottom of Scott Lake Hill as the highway goes over Sibbald Trail. The only part of the road that truly needed (needs major work, not just a new black surface ) was seemingly going to be ignored until somebody must have gotten an earful from somebody else about that.
Even after all that, the Road Construction Next 28 Kilometres and End Construction signs stayed up for a few months after everything had mercifully wrapped up.
Now, we can probably look forward to the work on the east side of Scott Lake Hill that actually needs work this coming summer. Let’s hope it’s done a little more 21st century this time around.
If it’s to take two months, don’t make them July-August, give May-June or September-October a thought. All those tourists last year (and the highways will be even more jammed this coming summer, what with all that nice cheap gas … well, except in Canmore ) who were caught in the traffic nightmares getting to the mountains and back from Calgary, won’t be coming back any time soon.
Maybe consider working beyond 9-5 since we get 18 to 20 hours of light at that time of year. Mix in some generator lighting like they do in the big leagues (B.C., Ontario, Quebec, USA, etc. ) and you could work round the clock. Where you may lose on shift bonus, you can claw back on early completion incentives.
Try staging near the road instead of on the road. There’s lots of room on the sides, especially from Scott Lake Hill east. Stage in between eastbound and westbound if you’re going to work on both directions at once. Minimal road surface shut down.
Can’t wait, it’s gonna be so good.
Evan Burr,
Canmore
