The Alberta government said construction has begun on the $170-million twinning of Highway 3 between Taber and Burdett, kicking off a multi-year initiative to twin it from the British Columbia border to Medicine Hat. At the moment, the Alberta government said Highway 3 is an important economic corridor, serving as the primary east-west link for southern Alberta and the major connector between Saskatchewan and British Columbia south of the Trans-Canada Highway. It said it is a key route for the movement of agricultural products. “This highway is critical infrastructure in support of the growing agri-food processing industry and the movement of commercial traffic in the region in an efficient and reliable manner,” said Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors Minister Devin Dreeshen in a Friday press release. “The vision to twin Highway 3 has been around for a long time, and I’m glad we’re finally making this vision a reality.”Alberta United Conservative Party MLA Grant Hunter (Taber-Warner) called the twinning of Highway 3 “a transformative project for southern Alberta.”“The Agri-food Processing Corridor is attracting many multinational companies to southern Alberta and our infrastructure must keep pace.”The Alberta government went on to say the growing agri-business and the continued development and expansion of agri-food processing plants has led to safety concerns about more traffic and congestion on Highway 3. However, it said twinning reduces congestion and adds an extra layer of safety for all users, eliminating the risk of head-on collisions. “This twinning marks a transformative moment for Taber, with the project poised to significantly boost our local economy by improving access for our agricultural producers and attracting new businesses along the Highway 3 transportation corridor,” said Taber Mayor Andrew Prokop. While twinning Highway 3 will improve safety, the Alberta government said it will increase its capacity to accommodate the increasing mix of commercial and commuter traffic.It added the first section for construction is twinning 46 kilometres of Highway 3 between Taber and Burdett, which will create more than 750 jobs and promote economic growth throughout southern Alberta. About 4,000 vehicles per day travel through this section of it. The project contract was awarded in fall 2023 and construction is now underway. This section will take about two years to complete and is anticipated to open to traffic in late 2025.Full twinning of Highway 3 is being split into eight sections to limit costs and avoid disruption to people who live and work along it. Dreeshen followed up by saying twinning Highway 3 will have a huge impact. “As parliamentary secretary Hunter as well as Bill Chapman said, when you have these types of investments into the agri-food sector, there’s some times multiplier effects of three plus times when you see these types of investment,” he said. “With irrigation, the number’s are even higher.” As irrigation is expanded, he said people will see higher value crops and more agri-food companies moving to southern Alberta. He added these changes “are going a long way of attracting more businesses, hundreds of millions of dollars, and thousands of new jobs here in the province.” The Alberta government said in 2022 it was twinning Highway 3. READ MORE: Alberta's government twinning Highway 3 in southern part of the province“We will build a stronger, safer, more economically resilient southern Alberta together,” said Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. Highway 3 is a 324-kilometre highway that traverses southern Alberta, running through Lethbridge to the Trans-Canada Highway in Medicine Hat.
