FORT McMURRAY, Alta. — After years of lobbying, some much needed infrastructure improvements are beginning to get taken care of in Fort McMurray, Alta.

Construction has begun on the $127-million five-lane bridge across the Athabasca River in the northern Alberta city. The new bridge will have the province’s largest bridge deck when it opens to traffic in 2011 – weather permitting.

“There are more than $600 million worth of transportation projects underway or starting this year on Highway 63,” said Luke Ouellette, Minister of Transportation. “The province is committed to building the transportation infrastructure needed to support growth in Alberta’s oil sands and this new five-lane bridge will significantly improve traffic flow across the Athabasca River.”

The bridge will provide three lanes for northbound Highway 63 traffic and two lanes for the northbound traffic from Franklin Avenue.

The new bridge will be 33 metres wide and 472 metres long, with a deck area of 15,576 square metres. The bridge has been designed to carry up to a 6.4-metre wide, 1.1 million-kilogram (2.3 million-pound) overload vehicle, which is 12.5 times larger than typical designs.

In addition to the $127-million new five-lane bridge, other projects underway or starting this year include: completion of 16 kilometres of Highway 63 twinning south of Fort McMurray; completion of 17 kilometres of Highway 63 twinning north of Fort McMurray; repaving 70 kilometres of Highway 63 north of Highway 55 and the addition of two new southbound passing lanes; repaving five kilometres of Highway 63 within Fort McMurray; and start of construction on the new Thickwood Blvd and Confederation Way interchanges.

Approximately 50,000 vehicles per day use Highway 63 at the site of the new bridge.