Alberta Transportation is in the midst of repair work to the sliding hillside that for years has made travelling Highway 837, the road to the Bleriot Ferry treacherous.
The Mail has reported on the sliding of the hillside that will often slide and cover the drive lanes, going back as far as 2015. Over the years there have been stop gap measures to keep the road open including lane reductions as well as placing Jersey barriers along the roadway to hold the material at bay.
According to the Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors website, work on the Highway 575 and Highway 837 is an approved repair.
It is scheduled for 2024-2031, the architect is Klohn Crippen Berger of Edmonton and the Contractor is PME.
A Province lane restriction was listed beginning on October 2024 to March 31, 2025, for both highways.
The contractor is on site, and materials are stockpiled near the Lion’s Campground. Light signals are in place controlling the single lane traffic.

The former Reptile World building, located at 95 3 Avenue East in downtown Drumheller, has been vacant for nearly a decade after the facility closed in February 2015, and soon a new local business will call the location home.
Local Drumheller company Reality Bytes Incorporated has purchased the building and have made extensive renovations to the interior in order to move their existing operations and plan for expansion.
“We love our current location downtown (at 155 3 Avenue W) but we have simply run out of space,” shares John Shoff, Reality Bytes’ Chief Executive Officer. “We currently have 21 staff, and there’s just not enough room for us all, and our equipment, inventory, et cetera."
He shares their current location operates both Reality Bytes and Aerial Internet Solutions, which is also run by Reality Bytes but provides different services. As both businesses have grown, so have the space constraints felt within their current location.
“When we started looking for a larger space, our goal was to stay in the downtown core, this was quite important to us as a company,” Mr. Shoff says. “The building at 95 3 Ave (the former Reptile World) was a location we felt would work well for our needs, with room to grow and expand.”
Mr. Shoff notes, while the building is structurally sound it does require extensive renovations and upgrades internally, and the interior of the building will undergo full renovations.
The goal is to develop several spaces, each being between 1,500 and 2,000 square feet, which can be used for office or retail space along the north side of the building closest to 3 Avenue.
The remaining space will be used by Reality Bytes and Aerial Internet Solutions which will allow them to house not only a data centre and meeting rooms, but also retail and office space with warehouse space.
“We’re very excited for this development, not just for our company, but also for what it will do for the future of downtown Drumheller,” Mr. Shoff says.
The Mail reached out to Town of Drumheller for comment but did not hear back by press time.