LAC LA BICHE - On the evening of Oct. 29, following a long construction season involving detours and disruptions to local businesses, the orange fences came down around the section of 101 Ave. (Main Street) between 102 Street and 101 Street in Lac La Biche, and the road was reopened to traffic.
The one-block section of Lac La Biche’s main drag had been closed off since April for work on the second phase of the $32.5 million Main Street Revitalization project. Recently, the intersection of Main Street and 105 Street, which had also been closed during the construction period, was reopened to traffic, with the section of 105 St. from the intersection to 102 Ave. now a one-way street.
New streetlights were also added to the intersection.
The Main Street Revitalization project began in 2021 with the aim of swapping out a five-block section of aging underground utilities and upgrade surface features such as sidewalks, curbs, and streetlights.
The Main Street makeover was one of several projects that have taken place in Lac La Biche since spring throughout what was a very busy construction season, with detour signs, orange pylons, fences, and barricades in every direction.
Motorists have had to routinely take alternative routes around various projects. These projects include the 105 Street watermain and utility pipe replacement, the utility line replacement along 104 Avenue between 103 Street and 101 Street near the Lac La Biche Legion, The Alexander Hamilton Park mountain bike trail system, as well as the work along Beaver Hill Road in July and August where crews were building an access road to a 12-acre parcel of municipal land close to the Bold Center.
In the spring of 2025, the third and final phase of the project will be starting on a section of Main Street between 100 Street and 101 Street. That section of roadway, from the Alberta Treasury Branch to Lac La Biche Sporting Goods, will be closed to traffic until the work on the project is complete.
