M.D. of Foothills No. 31 | 7
sourceful, even garnering acclaim, for their
innovative approach to road maintenance.
For example, the district’s Maintainable
Road Oil Program has proven highly suc-
cessful at enhancing roads originally slated
for more costly re-paving. Using chip-seal
patching or applying thickness to targeted
areas, public works has been able to extend
the life of roads through resurfacing at a cost
of approximately $25,000 a kilometer, which
is significantly less than what it costs in any
other area of the country. In fact, the district
has prompted attention from other districts
wanting to know exactly how they accom-
plish that.
There have been a number of other devel-
opments. For example, the district recently
partnered with the Town of High River and
the Province to complete some $37 million
worth of construction creating an inter-
change (north of the community of High
River) which now directly links Highway
2 with the highly-traversed industrial cor-
ridor of Highway 2A. There are some 9,000
acres of land in this area which is strategical-
ly poised for commercial and industrial de-
velopment through collaborative planning
between the MD and Towns of High River
and Okotoks. In addition to improving ac-
cess for emergency vehicles and commuters
alike, the interchange accommodates heavy
trucks serving operations like Cargil, one of
the world’s largest suppliers of food prod-
ucts. Area residents equally benefit from not
seeing so many cattle trucks having to drive
through their town.
Safe environmental practices have been
another priority for the public works depart-
ment. For an area subject to extreme winter
conditions, the department has traditional
deployed salt to help melt ice and snow. Pet-
tigrew says in accordance with new environ-
