Another highway  project is ramping up as crews begin micro surfacing Highway 838 from Highway 9 to the Royal Tyrrell Museum. Motorists can expect delays for the remainder of July and into August as crews work their way down Highway 838. This is the second major Highway project this summer. Earlier this year crews resurfaced Highway 10.

    Crews have been making a lot of progress on highway work in the valley this summer, and the next project is ramping up to get going this week.
    Drivers can expect a few delays along Highway 838, North Dinosaur Trail, as crews complete a micro-surfacing. Even in the face of the rebuilding efforts following the flooding in Alberta communities, public affairs officer for Alberta Transportation Nancy Beasley Hosker says it is important these projects are completed.
    “The Minster committed as did the premier, that as we are working on the recovery we will continue with the work of moving Alberta forward,” said Hosker.
    The project will span about five kilometres, from the intersection of Highway 9 to near the entrance of the Royal Tyrrell Museum.
    “We are providing local residents with good, safe roads to travel on and it will also extend the life of Highway 838 up to 10 years,” said Hosker. “If it were to go untreated, the road would actually take more extensive rehabilitation work. This is a good investment which will slow down the deterioration of existing pavement.”
    This week crews were stripping some of the markings off the highway and compacting some of the cracks before beginning the resurfacing.
 Hosker explains micro-surfacing. Coarse sand and water is mixed with liquid asphalt and it is applied to the road surface.
    For this project, they will use about 650 tons of the material, enough to fill 40 tandem dump trucks. After the mixture is applied to the road top, it takes several hours for the mixture to “cure” and be ready for traffic.
    “People may say it looks done, but before the curing is complete the mixture is very sticky and difficult to remove from shoes, clothing and vehicles,” said Hosker.
    The project has an estimated price tag of $300,000.
    “We expect the work to go  ahead in July and August, and it will be signed along the highway as they move forward.  There will be some delays and speed reductions,” said Hosker.
    This will be the second highway project to occur in Drumheller this summer. Earlier in the summer, crews resurfaced over 20 kilometres of Highway 10.
    “We are continuing to provide safe roads and protect our investments. We are living within our means, but still moving forward on working on the core transportation network."

Under the Province of Alberta’s proposed flood strategies, new developments in areas listed as floodways, according to Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development, would be banned. Large sections of Drumheller fall under the floodways, which would severely limit any development in town.

    In the wake of the devastation wrought by the flooding in Southern Alberta, the provincial government is outlining plans to help prevent similar catastrophic damage in the future.
    Proposals are aimed at helping home owners rebuild or even relocate their homes, and bolster their flood mitigation structures.
    However, there is one proposal which could have drastic repercussions for Drumheller. The provincial government plan calls for a ban on any new developments in all existing floodways in Alberta.
    For Drumheller, where the idyllic badlands limit the amount of usable space, the proposal could stall or even outright stop further development.
    “It’ll eliminate it in some areas. It’s a grave concern for the town. We’ve contacted the people responsible for it and explained the situation and what it could mean for the development and future of Drumheller,” said Mayor Terry Yemen.    “They’ve given nothing more than an assurance that they will review the document.”
  Areas falling under the floodway, according to Alberta Environment and Sustainable
Resource Development, include Nacmine, Midland, Newcastle, North Drumheller, around the Badlands Community Facility (BCF), Riverside, Rosedale, Lehigh, and East Coulee.
  Conceivably any development in the fl oodway, such as phase 2 of the BCF would be prohibited.
  Floodways are defined as being the natural fl ow of water during a 1-in-100 year flood
event, something that Drumheller has experienced twice in under a decade.
 “They’re talking about natural flows, but we’re saying you need to factor in the Dickson
Dam for flood mitigation. When it’s factored in, it reduces the flow and takes a lot of the pink (floodways) off the map,” said Yemen.
  After the 2005 flood, the Town of Drumheller undertook a massive flood mitigation effort, the fruits of which saved many areas of town during the flood one month ago.
  “If they give us some funding, we can mitigate a lot more of Drumheller, like the dike in Newcastle and in Rosedale,” said Yemen.
  “We don’t want to put anyone in peril, but it’s critical the province has to factor in the dam and bring down their numbers to what we’re used to dealing with.”
  For the time being, the Town continues to lobby the province to review the situation in Drumheller. No indication was given as to how long the province’s review would take.
  To view the Alberta floodways in Alberta, visit www.envinfo.gov.ab.ca/floodhazard.
  “All the issues, such as development and property values, is a big concern for the Town. We’re land-challenged anyway, so if you take off a large chunk of our real estate, we’re going to be a community of 8,000 for a lot of years,” said Yemen. “The numbers they are using are just not acceptable. It’s too damning. Hopefully, common sense will prevail.”