By Chris Jaster
Things aren’t always as they seem on the Trans-Canada Highway.
Although crews aren’t busy rebuilding the 75-metre section of the highway that was washed out by the flood on June 18, the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure is working hard to redesign the structure itself.
“The design phase is in progress,” said Doug Wakabayashi, director of communications for the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure. “I don’t have a firm time, but we’ll be working to have a contractor in place so we can get going expeditiously as soon as the design is completed.”
The culvert under the westbound lanes near Eagle Valley Campground failed during the flood that hit Maple Creek on June 18 and water eroded the dirt around the culvert. The water eventually bore into the highway’s substructure and caused the road to collapse into itself.
The shoulders of the eastbound lanes were also damaged, but they were given a temporary fix and the eastbound lanes are being used for two-way traffic until the westbound lanes are repaired.
Reconstruction plans for the westbound lanes are taking so long because the ministry is recreating the hydraulics for both the westbound lanes and the eastbound lanes, as crews will make permanent repairs to them after finishing the westbound lanes.
“Basically, (the new hydraulic system) will accommodate water to flow through the area both while we’re doing construction work and once the road is back to normal,” said Wakabayashi.
The ministry is focused on making sure this project, which Wakabayashi estimates will cost between $5 million and $10 million, is finished so both sides of the highway will be open before the snow hits the ground. He said four-lane traffic will be restored for the winter, even if the permanent repairs to the eastbound lanes aren’t finished before construction season ends.
Although crews haven’t been busy rebuilding the highway, they have made access to the two-lane portion of the thoroughfare a little bit easier. New crossover lanes were completed on Wednesday afternoon, which will make it easier for westbound vehicles to switch to the eastbound lane for that small section of the major thoroughfare.
“The (old) crossovers were established in the existing approaches, so that required a near 90-degree turn and we weren’t able to accommodate the long-combination vehicles on that,” said Wakabayashi.                  
“The new crossovers will be able to accommodate all vehicle traffic — like all passenger vehicles, RVs and all legal dimension and primitive trucks. The only thing we can’t accomodate on Highway 1 is overwidth and overweight vehicles,” Wakabayashi added.
The 75-metre portion of the Trans-Canada Highway suffered the most damage from the flood, but crews have been busy fixing other roads affected by the floodwater.
The shoulders and side slopes of a two-kilometre stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near the Alberta border which was covered by water for two days was repaired by June 26. Some clean-up work remains — like getting rid of the silt and debris in the ditches — for the project that will cost between $250,000 and $350,000. Crews also expect some minor settlement to occur, although this won’t disrupt traffic.
Crews also rebuilt the bridge that was washed out on Highway 271 by June 29. There will be some intermittent one-way traffic on the highway that leads to Fort Walsh as crews won’t get to repairing the damage caused by erosion that took place approximately 45 km southwest of Maple Creek until after the height of tourist season. There’s also intermittent one-way traffic closer to Fort Walsh due to landslides that were made worse by the flood.
Highway 221 near Cypress Hills Park received some shoulder erosion that is being repaired, but isn’t hindering the flow of traffic and repairs were made to bridge abutments on Highway 2 south of Maple Creek as well. Some final repair work will be made to the bridge once the water recedes more. The bridge remains open to traffic.
The work on Highway 221 will cost between $50,000 and $75,000 while the work on Highway 2 will bring in a bill between an estimated $100,000 and $175,000. The three projects on Highway 271 will cost an estimated $800,000 to $1 million.
The Ministry realizes there is a lot of work to be done in the Southwest, and they’re doing everything they can to get the roads back to normal in a timely fashion.
“We’re working as hard and quickly as we can to repair all the damage that was sustained in the area,” said Wakabayashi.