A major overhaul of one of Langdon’s busiest roads will be completed in the coming weeks.
Construction along Centre Street has been underway in the hamlet since May. According to Doug Hafichuk, manager of Capital Projects for Rocky View County (RVC), paving is scheduled to start the week of Oct. 5 and last approximately 10 days.
“Obviously, everything is weather-dependent but Mother Nature has been very helpful this year," he said. "We would expect, by the middle of the month, to reach substantial completion.”
The road improvements are meant to accommodate the continued development and growth of Langdon, he said, which is projected to reach a population of 13,400 residents, according to RVC’s Langdon Area Structure Plan. According to RVC's 2018 census, the hamlet's population was 5,364.
Once finished, Hafichuk said, the road will have a four-lane configuration to accommodate an increase in traffic from the current volume of 6,900 vehicles per day to an excess of 20,000 vehicles per day – the expected volume once Langdon reaches a population of 13,000 people.
Having a four-lane configuration will also help with turning movements, he added, as well as access into Langdon Park and commercial areas.
“It’s not just a commuter corridor – it also services a lot of the business community,” he said. “We’ve balanced the through traffic with off-street access.”
The project’s budget is $5.7 million, he said, which is primarily paid for with provincial transfers, the federal gas tax and transportation levies.
According to Hafichuk, the project includes three components – road surface widening, sidewalk and pathway additions and stormwater infrastructure improvements.
New sidewalks and traffic lights along Anderson Avenue will accommodate the high number of students who cross the street to attend Langdon School in the mornings and afternoons, he said.
“The existing configuration doesn’t really facilitate good traffic flow in that area, and obviously creates risk for vehicle and pedestrian interaction,” Hafichuk said. “That intersection now has full traffic lights on it, so that way we can queue up some of the pedestrian traffic and make sure they cross the road in groups instead of one or two at a time.”
“As well, adding a right-hand turn lane onto southbound Centre Street should really help with traffic flow during those peak hours…when people are commuting to work and school kids are arriving, when you have buses and parents dropping kids off.”
As for the street’s underground pipes, Hafichuk said the project provided the opportunity to address Langdon’s drainage challenges by putting in an underground stormwater line, which will collect all the rainwater from Centre Street and cause it to flow south.
“It’s a classic curb and gutter design with catch basins that feed into an underground pipe system and outfalls into the Railway Avenue ditch further south,” he said. “The key piece is that the design doesn’t restrict any future options should we look at other underground stormwater options in the future."
Many of Langdon’s businesses operate along Centre Street. Throughout the construction period, Hafichuk said the County has tried to minimize disruption to businesses and nearby residents. However, due to the importance of Centre Street, he said the road was unable to be closed completely, which would have expedited the process.
“For a stretch of road like this in a less urban environment, we’d probably close the road and do the work in six to 10 weeks and be out of there,” he said. “But with this being a major commercial and commuter corridor, we’ve had to put in quite a bit of traffic accommodation to ensure business access is always available. There has never been a loss to business access.”
Scott Strasser, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @scottstrasser19
