An outline showing the proposed changes. (submitted photo/City of North Battleford)

By Angela Brown

Road-widening enhancement

City approves Petro-Canada project, access road improvement

Nov 29, 2022 | 4:19 PM

The City of North Battleford has approved a proposal for an expansion of the Petro-Canada gas bar and convenience store, located along the Highway 16 bypass.

As part of the effort, the city also authorized the associated work for the road-widening and alignment of the access road at the site.

City council gave the go ahead at its meeting Monday for the city to enter into an agreement with Suncor Energy for the initiative.

City Planner Ryan Mackrell discussed the details of the project that would be completed in 2023.

Suncor will be responsible for realigning and widening the service access road, and the city will cover a portion of the cost.

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“We’ve undertaken negotiations with Suncor to allow them to do some of their site development and share the cost of this work,” he said. “The 2022 estimate of this project is about half a million dollars. That was a fairly high level estimate. So we’re fairly confident in that estimate. Suncor would be willing to pay 60 per cent of the costs. And the city would cover 40 per cent, but never to exceed $200,000.”

The city’s portion of the cost would be included in its 2023 budget.

Mackrell noted to improve safety, the access road would be pushed further down Battleford Road to allow for better turning movements.

“There is a sliver of Suncor’s property that we would need for road widening, and just a subdivision of that. It would need to occur as part of this process,” he said. “Essentially, Suncor is not getting compensation for that piece of land. It’s a right-of-way piece of land. With that, I think the city is getting very good value in partnering with the developer on this.”

The work is scheduled to start in the new year.

Coun. Ross MacAngus supported the road improvements proposed in particular.

“That intersection was just dynamite, [with] the people coming off the Highway 16,” he said. “If a semi comes out of that service road and is going to make a left hand turn, he backs traffic up to the railroad crossing at a busy time. So it definitely needs the fix.”

Mackrell also noted while businesses in the area may not appreciate the construction work for the project, it is a “necessary evil” to make the improvements.

Council ended up approving the proposal as presented.

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow