Two big facelifts coming this year for the Dahl Drive area.

• 

Construction season is here! The area around Dahl Drive will be the site of continued activity through the spring, summer, and fall months as crews work on updating the water system. And, great news, the roadway will also see updates! On April 13, Whitecourt Town Council approved the final phase of the Water System Upgrades Project. Split up into three steps; the project will see the water system significantly updated.

The first phase is what the public can currently see along Dahl Drive. “This project is going to see a dedicated feed line extend from our pump house, the orange building new Highway 43, up to the hilltop reservoir, which is near the Eastlink ski hill, “explained Juan Grande, Engineering Services Coordinator for the Town of Whitecourt. In an emergency, such as a power outage in the valley, the hilltop area would still have water in the reservoir to help keep uptown residents flowing. “That is one of the reasons we need that dedicated line so that we have that capacity to either fill the downtown area back with the same line and also supply pressure to the hilltop area. It will help increase the resiliency of our water supply.”

The project was identified back in 2014 as a way to enhance the distribution system. “We find that with the current pumps, and the way the system is set up, we have to, at all times, have high pressure because we need to feed the hilltop reservoir. With this line, we would only require that high pressure when we are filling the reservoir, and it will help us reduce the pressure throughout the system, which would actually allow for less consumption of water, which is another benefit,” said Grande.

The first phase, happening now, is the installation of the pipeline. “The water pipe is being installed under what we called Contract A. Contract B is all the mechanical and control modules necessary to change how the system works, and Contract C, which will be starting in the next couple of months, is the extension of the water line from Dahl Drive all the way to the bottom of the Eastlink Park,” he explained.

The hilltop reservoir is massive, holding 1,000,000 cubic litres. “That storage capacity is typically two to three days of water supply,” said Grande. It is located up near Eastlink Park, but not much is visible above ground beyond a small pumphouse. “This is quite an exciting project. What it will do is provide the town with that redundancy of our water distribution system. And with that infrastructure, it lends itself to be a potential regional distribution point.” The regional distribution means that they could branch off from the new line and create another line, connecting future developments to the system.

On top of the construction happening around Dahl Drive, there will also be construction happening on Dahl Drive. This summer, crews will be working on making the ride much more comfortable. Infrastructure Services Intern Corrina Robson said that improving Dahl Drive’s drainage is one of the main goals. “It’s not going to have water collecting on the surface or any ice in the winter, which tends to be a problem, and it’ll help keep the pavement in a lot better condition.” Along with that is the paving component. “The paving will smoothen out the ride and make sure it continues to be in good condition.”

The Town of Whitecourt received $1,212,940 from the Municipal Stimulus Program (MSP) for the rehabilitation work on Dahl Drive. “We were lucky enough to receive the funding in response to COVID and to try and stimulate the economy,” explained Robson. She said that there are various reasons why Dahl Drive is a rough road. “The first reason is the base of the road. Sometimes as roads age, they shift, and they change a bit. When the base gets a little less sturdy, that causes issues to go up through pavement levels, and you start seeing cracking on the surface. Those are the lines that go perpendicular to the roadway. You really feel them when you drive your vehicle over them. It’s just a by-product of it being an older road that is highly trafficked. The second is the drainage. When water is trapped in the roadway or finding its way underneath the road and disrupting the base, it also causes cracking. It tends to deteriorate the pavement a lot faster than we expect.”

Robson said that they would be adding in catch basins and curb and gutter to help direct the flow of water off the road rather than sit on the base. She said they plan on keeping one lane open as they work rather than closing the hill down completely. “It’s definitely going to change the experience of driving on Dahl Drive.”

Grande said that more changes could come to Dahl Drive in the future depending on traffic flows. “The intersection of Dahl Drive and 41st is very heavily trafficked. Once the volume of traffic reaches a certain point, then it triggers improvements. The next phase would likely be the reconfiguration of the intersection. We took that in mind with some of the improvements that we are doing for Dahl Drive and at the same time making sure that those future changes are already in the design phase.”

Reconfiguration of the intersection could be years down the road still. “Everything is dependant on when those traffic thresholds are met, and you can see that once the intersection no longer has certain service levels such as the queue starts to get longer.” He said that had it not been for COVID keeping traffic levels down, the conversation around the intersection would be happening now as that is how close the thresholds are to being passed. Constructed in 1980, Dahl Drive will feel almost brand new again once crews repair the roadway, providing relief for motorists.