Alberta Roadbuilders warn RMWB against taking on Highway 63 duties

Alberta Roadbuilders warn RMWB against taking on Highway 63 duties

Construction group says highway running through Fort McMurray has 11 severely degraded segments

A group representing about 600 construction and paving companies is warning against a proposal for the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB) to take over maintenance of a section of Highway 63.

Parts of the section the RMWB wants to manage is severely degraded and needs to be replaced, said Ron Glen, CEO of the Alberta Roadbuilders & Heavy Construction Association (ARHCA).

This work is costly and extensive, he said, and allowing the municipality to assume highway maintenance duties from the province risks plunging the RMWB into “a losing battle of whack-a-mole” as the municipality scrambles to fill potholes.

“At best, it may improve a small section of roadway in the short term,” Glen wrote in a letter to Mayor Sandy Bowman, who had previously told reporters that he was discussing options for the municipality to be more active in highway maintenance. “The solution is not for municipalities to fill the gap. The solution is for the province to meet its obligations.”

Glen told CBC News there are 36 segments of Highway 63 that are in serious need of repair or replacement work. An 18-kilometre stretch running through Fort McMurray has 11 of those segments.

Bowman told CBC News earlier this month that for more than a year, he has been asking the Alberta government for a greater role, including pothole repairs, line painting and road cleaning, for the stretch of highway that runs through the municipality.

He said he warned the province there would be plenty of potholes this spring after the region faced a long winter. Bowman said last year was just as bad for potholes.

ARHCA sent a letter to Bowman with its concerns on June 16, four days after dozens of volunteers protested the state of Highway 63 by filling potholes on a stretch going past downtown Fort McMurray.

“It's kind of disappointing and sad that the municipality feels that they have to come in and pick up the pieces because the province is not meeting its obligations in basic highway maintenance and repair,” Glen said in an interview.

This would likely involve the RMWB choosing the maintenance contractor, he said. Bowman did not have an estimate for what this new role would cost, but said he does not want the municipality covering the bill.

“The current condition of Highway 63 needs to improve as soon as possible, and we’ve been advocating loud and clear on this issue alongside residents themselves for well over a year,” Bowman said in a statement when asked about ARHCA’s worries for the highway.

A spokesperson for Alberta Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen did not address Glen’s concerns that the province was handing over a provincial obligation to the RMWB. A statement from Dreeshen’s office said the province is “committed to Highway 63” and is working with the RMWB on a summer maintenance schedule for the highway.

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Glen says his organization estimates at least 15 per cent of Alberta’s highways are in poor condition and need immediate repairs. Most of those highways are north of Red Deer, he said.

An assessment published by Rural Municipalities of Alberta agrees that rural highways and roads need nearly $12 billion in repairs.

Meanwhile, Glen says frustrated ARHCA members have pivoted away from roadbuilding and paving jobs because there are fewer repair and maintenance contracts for provincial highways and public roads.

“Roads do not get cheaper to fix when maintenance is deferred,” Glen said in his letter to Bowman.

Vincent McDermott covers Fort McMurray and the Wood Buffalo region for CBC News. He was previously the editor of Fort McMurray Today, where he was part of a team that won a National Newspaper Award for coverage of the 2016 Horse River Wildfire. He is also a former contributor to the official magazine of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. He can be reached at vincent.mcdermott@cbc.ca