Lynda F. raised a good question in a comment she posted on the blog today. Namely, why would the city want to consider paying for stage three of Ray Gibbon Drive in the current economic climate?
Those answers will come out during the budget meetings, but I can offer my interpretation.
If the city doesn't build the first two lanes to Villeneuve Road, St. Albert in effect is not holding up its end of the deal that was agreed upon in principle by Premier Ed Stelmach and former mayor Paul Chalifoux.
The deal states that if St. Albert builds the first two lanes from 137th Avenue to Villeneuve Road, the province will reimburse the city for all dollars spent to ensure the road can one day be converted into a freeway.
The payback covers land that was (and some that still has to be) purchased for a wider right of way to accommodate up to eight traffic lanes, interchange land, extra design costs, etc. for all three stages.
The city has crunched the numbers (which are still in the hands of Alberta Transportation) and those extra costs add up to $45 million.
The province has also agreed to make Ray Gibbon Drive a highway bypass. That means they'll one day pay to extend the road beyond Villeneuve Road (some of that extension will be in the city's jurisdication) to Highway 2 just south of Morinville. The province will also pay to widen the road, as traffic counts warrant.
No stage three = no payback = the province won't pay to extend the road north of Villeneuve Road to Highway 2 south of Morinville = no highway status = no future widening on the province's dime.
The city's plan is to use the$45 million payout from the province to pay for the bulk of the $47 million stage three. That means the city needs to find $1.9 million of its own funding for stage three.
Given the amount of money spent to date on non-arterial road costs and time put into negotiations with Alberta Transportation, I would be extremely surprised if council decided not to continue with stage three.
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