The R.M. of Prince Albert wants to upgrade this road to a fully-engineered graveled surface. (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW Staff)

By Alison Sandstrom

Infrastructure upgrade

R.M. of Prince Albert looks to upgrade 48th Street

Dec 11, 2020 | 5:38 PM

The R.M. of Prince Albert is looking to partner with the City of P.A. to upgrade a road that connects Highway 2 and Highway 3.

While most of 48th Street falls within the R.M., around one kilometer of the artery is inside city limits. As part of the larger project, the R.M. is offering to cover half the cost, $163,350, of upgrading the city-owned portion.

R.M. of Prince Albert Reeve, Eric Schmalz explained the poor condition of 48th Street means traffic, including heavy trucks, often choose to use Marquis Road to the north and Elevator Road to the south instead. Upgrading 48th Street to a fully-engineered graveled surface would benefit both municipalities by reducing traffic stress on those busy roads, he said.

A graphic shows 48th Street, the R.M.’s approximate portion is shown in red, the City’s approximate portion is shown in green. (Google maps screen grab/Alison Sandstrom)

The project would also be important for the around 500 people living in Driftwood and Eastview Trailer Courts, who right now are largely forced to use Highway 2 to access the city.

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“A lot of time the residents in trailer courts and rental housing get forgotten,” Schmalz told paNOW. “And we want to make sure they have good roads and good access to get in and out of their homes without having to traverse a main arterial highway to be able to get into the city.”

Bryce Floer, owner of Glenmore Equipment on 48th Street, would also like to see the road improved, explaining the city-owned portion is in particularly bad shape and is prone to rutting.

He added the upgrade makes sense with the new city aquatic centre and rinks planned for the area.

“This would be a natural corridor for people to get across from Highway 2 to Highway 3 and to the hockey rinks without having to go into the city limits,” Floer said.

The R.M.’s funding proposal has been forwarded to city council budget deliberations. The city would be responsible for half of the cost of upgrading the 1 km portion within city limits, approximately $163,350. The R.M. would chip in the other $163,350. Schmalz explained they also plan to seek federal funding to upgrade the R.M. portion of the road.

Prince Albert Mayor Greg Dionne said the city was open to the R.M.’s proposal, but no decisions have been made yet.

“It is a big item and we’ve been talking about it probably for a year,” said Dionne. “We’ll decide at budget if this is the year we can afford to do it.”

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom