The Centre Avenue connector has been a subject of many questions since the start of its cleanup.
When is it going to be done?
When will the road open?
What stores are we going to get?
Although Town of Cochrane manager of infrastructure Rick Deans might not know what stores will be coming, he does have a hand in the planning for Centre Avenue and said the first section will be opening in the next month.
“We are in the final weeks of phase one construction completion and are estimating the shallow utility installations to be complete in the next few weeks along with the commissioning and testing of the traffic signals,” said Deans. “Once this work is complete we will be ready to open the road.”
With most of the road work complete, Deans said he doesn’t foresee anything getting in the way of that timeline.
While it’s a large portion of the project, the full completion will come when the new railway crossing opens up.
“The approaches and surface work are being completed this summer,” said Deans. “Canadian Pacific Rail does the signal work and we’ve been advised that this is in their work plan for September.”
CP Rail will likely take the full month of September to finish up on their end, said Deans and Centre Ave. will likely be fully operational for the start of October.
“This project has been a real collaborative effort from many different departments within the Town of Cochrane, along with various sectors of the Federal and Provincial Governments, utility providers and private sector development,” said Deans. “The project is far from complete and we are anxious to construct the sidewalks and landscaping this year, as well as the opening of the Centre Avenue rail crossing.
“Ultimately this new roadway and crossing will function as an arterial road and provide mobility options in getting around town.”
