(Photo: Chris Schwarz / Government of Alberta)

By rdnewsNOW staff

Infrastructure projects

Minister Dreeshen speaks to central Alberta projects that received provincial funding

Aug 15, 2025 | 9:46 AM

A bridge replacement in Red Deer County was needed according to the provincial government as severe rot had overtaken the pillars in the water.

Transportation and Economic Corridors Minister Devin Dreeshen spoke to media on Thursday in a roundtable discussion and when asked about the bridge, he said whenever you have bridges that are on load restrictions because of that type of deterioration, it’s a security risk for the public.

The Township Road 352 Bridge is located over the Little Red River, just 23 kilometres west of Innisfail.

“That grant is something we wanted to make sure we could help the local county be able to fix that bridge up and obviously have it as a marketable road for industry as well as the safety of the general public in that area,” he said. “It was a bit of an art and a science to make sure that we had the right amount of grant and capital investments going out every budget, but that was one I think was more of a science to make sure that that road and bridge was safe and useable by people in that area.”

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In July 2025, the provincial government announced a $3.6 million grant to the county for the $4.8 million project. This is part of the province’s long list of approved grants for projects in the Strategic Transportation Infrastructure Program (STIP).

In total, they dished out $41 million in grants under STIP, which also included a culvert replacement in Lacombe County ($368,212.50), a culvert rehabilitation in Kneehill County ($220,873.50), a culvert replacement in the County of Stettler ($300,000), and a bridge replacement in Clearwater County ($708,750).

These were all under the following STIP components including the local road bridge program which had 38 projects receiving $23.8 million in provincial funding; the community airport program that had five projects receiving $3.7 million in provincial funding; local municipal initiatives that had four projects receiving $8.6 million in funding; and the resource road program, which had four projects receiving $4.9 million.

STIP also included a $1.6 million grant to go towards the 47th Avenue upgrades in the Town of Sylvan Lake. The project is currently underway and will cost the town $3.2 million.

According to the Town of Sylvan lake the upgrade spans from Highway 20 to the west access to Walmart.

The upgrades consist of widening the road to a four-lane divided roadway and adding traffic signals at the intersection of 47 Avenue and Iron Gate Boulevard.

Construction is expected to be done some time in September or October and it’s meant to improve safety and traffic flow.

“That’s important infrastructure, especially in the summer,” Dreeshen added. “You go through that intersection and it’s quite the important area. At $1.6 million, it was a 50-50 split we did with the town.”

Through the Alberta Municipal Water/ Wastewater Partnership, the province provided a $922,813.19 grant to Sylvan Lake to drill three new wells and upgrade an existing well to increase its water supply. This is meant to ensure the community has more access to clean drinking water and will cost the town $3.3 million.

“It’s a grant we’re providing the town for this year and it’s our expectation that they’d be able to complete the project in this construction year,” Dreeshen said.

Among the other approved grants for wastewater treatment plant upgrades through the Alberta Municipal Water/ Wastewater Partnership in central Alberta includes the Red Willow Lagoon outlet in the County of Stettler ($624,472.74), the Lagoon cell five in the Village of Alix ($578,419.71), the regional wastewater treatment facility in the Town of Rocky Mountain House ($2.6 million), and a new reservoir and pump station for the Town of Carstairs ($1.4 million).

In total, $40.2 million in grants were distributed for $98.3 million in wastewater treatment plant upgrades in the province.

In addition, $33.4 million in grants was presented to municipalities for $54.9 million in projects in the Water for Life Program. Among the local projects in the program includes the lateral supply lines and SCADA ($1.5 million) and Anthony Henday WTP electrical upgrades ($1.5 million) for the Mountain View Regional Water Services Commission.

Between STIP, the Alberta Municipal Water/Wastewater Partnership, and Water for Life program the government has distributed $114.6 million in grant funding.

This is to ensure rural communities have safe and efficient roads, bridges and community airports, as well as modern water and wastewater facilities to support their growing populations.

“It’s a bit of an art and a science when it comes to finding out which projects you have to prioritize because there’s more demands for funding for provincial projects or municipal projects through grants than their are provincial dollars available,” Dreeshen said. “We do look at which projects, whether it be bridges or roads, that are deteriorated the most and need the most funding priority. We also look at population growth as well as usage of certain roads to be able to prioritize the more busier routes.”