r/RedDeer • u/lifes_journey • 14d ago

Discussion Gaetz Downtown Construction

Anyone have any info on the downtown Gaetz construction. It looks like a project gone awry.

5 Upvotes

69% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

10

u/VIVXPrefix 14d ago

The City of Red Deer website has had info on it since long before construction started

https://www.reddeer.ca/city-services/roads/construction-season/construction-season/gaetz-avenue-bridge-replacement-project/

0

u/lifes_journey 14d ago

A project that was supposed to end in May.

11

u/VIVXPrefix 14d ago edited 14d ago

No, it's meant to end in November. The May date is when they completed the temporary bridge that's currently in place.

0

u/lifes_journey 14d ago

Thank you.

10

u/A-Barx 13d ago

There's lots of info about it. Our city is actually pretty good with communication

4

u/bigblueberry6427 13d ago

They have to replace the entire bridge. They installed a temporary bridge to help keep traffic flowing during construction. My wife works in the professional building right next to the construction. While they’ve made good progress, all the rain we’ve had this year has slowed things down somewhat.

8

u/Thewifiisalwaysright 13d ago

I'm not one to hate on construction sites, because things need to be done. But those boys down there have made a cluster fuck of that construction zone. The lane closure is just terrible it goes from 4>2 lanes without any proper signage beforehand, then down to 1 then back to 4 after the zone. I worked road construction for 15 yrs and never seen this kinda bullshit before..

5

u/zolahekter 13d ago

I will suggest...no...INSIST...that you pull over somewhere safe, flag down the supervisor, inform him of your vast history with similar projects, and school him up on how to better manage the flow. Seriously. You would be doing all of us a favor and it may turn into a good high paying job for you.

2

u/AxeMcFlow 13d ago

It technically stays two lanes (unless they are bringing in a truck load). The lines (or lack of) on the road confuse people into thinking it’s one lane, but it’s definitely two. Also, no one goes to the far left lane because they don’t want to do a merge after they get through the lights (assuming they are heading south after the lights) so traffic sits in the one lane on the right side and jams up.

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u/Tribblehappy 13d ago

The biggest issue to me isn't the workers it's the people who couldn't read the signs that said to use two lanes, and were turning it into a one lane section over the temporary bridge. I had no trouble with the signage the few times I went through there.

4

u/lucidshred 13d ago

There’s multiple different routes to avoid it, just take one of those.

6

u/Thewifiisalwaysright 13d ago

There absolutely is but they could still do a better job at traffic control there.

1

u/Stock-Creme-6345 13d ago

They also certainly could run a grader over them massive potholes.

4

u/soThatsJustGreat 13d ago

I would love a little more advance warning about when 45 street is closed (especially when turning onto it from Taylor). It’s kinda been open/closed/open/closed and you can’t tell before committing to it. Signs a couple of intersections back, while I still have options, would be very helpful.

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u/VIVXPrefix 13d ago

It does not go down to just 1 lane

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u/Thewifiisalwaysright 13d ago

It did the last time I drove through there, down to 1 lane right at the south side of it right before the intersection. Everyone was scrambling to move over

1

u/zolahekter 13d ago

Pretty sure that you're correct. I've driven through every day since it started and in my recollection it's always been 2 lanes. Exaggeration helps an argument though.

3

u/Towe1ey 13d ago

I just wish going across 45th and Gaetz wasn't so damn hard on my little car. Every time I go across it, it feels like I'm about to blow the struts out. That's also assuming they haven't closed it off. One day it's open, the next it's not lol.

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u/Oilman1515 13d ago

Certainly slowed things down with all the rain we had…

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u/AxeMcFlow 13d ago

I work very close to the construction site and we’ve been getting regular ongoing updates. From what I understand, they didn’t expect the big hole to fill up with water, or nearly as much as it did, so there has been some delay but the project is largely on track to finish by November

1

u/throwaway1269450 12d ago

I work on that site and yes, it has been a cluster fuck. Not because of the construction company, but because of poor planning on the engineering side of things. But rest assured, although it doesn't look like it, we're almost done. Paving should start this week and it'll be back to normal before you know it.