Highway 63 Twinning
 

Does anyone have any pics or updates on the twinning of Highway 63? Will the higway be twinned eventually to Edmonton?

Eventually yes. They are currently working on the stretch north of Grasslands I believe. South of there the final route alignment has not been decided so no work has been done to my knowledge.

The latest news from the province is:

January 31, 2011
New section of Highway 63 twinning construction is underway

Fort McMurray... Motorists are advised that eight kilometres of Highway 63 twinning construction is underway approximately 15 kilometres north of Highway 55. Construction on the $20-million project began Jan. 31 and includes tree clearing and grading that is scheduled to be completed by April 30, prior to the frost thawing. This section of twinning work was selected due to the heavy muskeg and poor soil conditions and is in addition to the 36 kilometres of grading work currently underway north of Wandering River. A separate contract for the asphalt work will follow.

Disruptions to traffic will be limited, as construction will be located to the east of the existing highway lanes.

All the info you want on the planning and construction of Hwy 63 from Edmonton to Fort McMurray is available here:

http://www.transportation.alberta.ca...northeast.aspx

I just happen to be working north-east of Fort McMurray for a short period of time. I cannot say I'm impressed with the progress of twinning Highway 63. The 40 km section near Wandering River should be completed soon. However, it is the area immediately north of Fort McMurray that really concerns me.

That stretch of highway is just plain scary. Not sure if it because I was using it Sunday night to get to my work camp, but the traffic was insane. It was very intimidating.

It really should be three lanes coming in and out of the city from the north.

Once the Confederation overpass and the new river crossings are finished the morning commute should improve drastically. I believe there will be 4 lanes moving traffic in each direction starting just north of the bridges.

I wonder how much progress will be made on this road by the end of the year. I would like to see #63 twinned eventually all the way to Edmonton via #28.

This can't happen soon enough. Trouble is the Province still hasn't even decided what route the highway should take from Grasslands to Edmonton.

This is an awesome piece I saw in the Herald recently.

http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/2012/...nailsandroads/

That article is over 1 year old. I believe they have made a lot of progress since then

I keep hearing that the HWY 63 twinning is being "fast tracked"

36 additional km completed, and that was in 2012 according to this. Nothing further scheduled for completion this year.

http://www.transportation.alberta.ca...ing_update.pdf

Looks like the twinning of 63 is coming down the home stretch. Over 3/4 of the highway is now twinned, and will be completely twinned by this time next year.

But the section from Grassland to least Gibbons is where a lot of action is really required.

This road should have been twinned over a decade ago with purely industry money.

I have not been down #63 in 16 months. They must be nearing completion of this route. I would love to see them twin the road right to Gibbons, but I think that may be a decade away.

It's 99% complete. There is just a 3km section left due for completion by fall 2016. After that, the provincial government is washing their hands of this route and mostly focusing on Calgary and Edmonton.

^ Too bad. They should continue twinning 28 and 63 up to Grassland... Especially some parts of 28 are congested with dangerous curves...

Is the traffic still rough on 63? I know lots of commercial drivers that have stopped coming up to Fort Mac.

I remember the last 100k into Ft. Mac being a bone jarring, suspension wrecking mess. Especially towing a heavy trailer full of HVAC equipment. It's been six years since I drive it though so it could have been improved

It has been about a decade since I've been on that route. Once the current project wraps up in the fall does that mean you can drive on four lane highway from Edmonton all the way to Ft McMurray?

I think it's all been redone.

No. Most highways up to Grassland are still 2 lane. Then 63 turns into 4 lane all the way up to Fort Mac.

I think the reason for twinning 63 from Grassland to Fort Mac was because pretty much all traffic from the south ends up on this long section of 63. But there are numerous routes to get to Grassland from Edmonton and area.

Thanks, that makes sense. Is Hwy 2 4-laned from St. Albert to Athabasca? To me that would make the most sense if it isn't already. Then it would be a short distance from Athabasca to Grassland.