The realignment and upgrade on the east end of Griffin Road in now underway in preparation for the new bridge crossing of the Bow River.

The contractor is now on site and signs are up asking people to reduce their speed limits as they travel to the Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre. But at no time will the access be closed to the centre or the lagoon site, says Rick Deans, Senior Infrastructure manager for the Town of Cochrane.

"Throughout the course of the summer there is going to be changes in traffic patterns as we go on to the roadway and have to do a little bit of new alignment within the old alignment," explains Deans. "A lot of the Griffin Rd. expansion will be in an alignment west of the existing alignnments but there will be times where there will be impact on traffic and there will be proper detouring in place at all times."

To move the road alignment west of the existing road into an area previously used as a gravel pit, about 110,000 cubic metres of fill will be added. The plan also calls for the construction of two traffic circles to help regulate traffic flow on the north side of the river. 

This projects marks the start of a four-year plan to expand Griffin Rd. and build the bridge and south Walker Trail connector.

"We'll continue to build until time weather prevents us otherwise," says Deans.