By Lara Fominoff @fomsy1 on Twitter

Province to invest $20 million for infrastructure in Castle Provincial Park, surrounding areas

Mar 29, 2017 | 2:55 PM

LETHBRIDGE – The provincial government is investing $20 million in the Castle Provincial Park area for a new paved highway and new water lines. Environment Minister Shannon Phillips says it’s part of their 2017 Capital Investment plan.
 
As part of the funding, $6 million will go to pave an 11 km section of Highway 774 from Beaver Mines to the Castle Mountain Resort. Another $9 million will go towards building a water line that ties Castle Mountain Resort to the Hamlet of Beaver Mines, and $4.7 million will go towards building another water line from Beaver Mines to the Village of Cowley.
 
But Phillips says actual construction will take some time.
 
“The road piece, a lot of the design and planning work will happen this summer, and the paving itself will happen next summer. So summer of ’18. On the water lines, there’s a lot of different pieces happening there. It’s a work in progress.”
 
Phillips says new engineering work has to be completed and there needs to still be a number of “conversations” between the MD of Pincher Creek, the Village of Cowley, and Alberta Transportation – which is responsible for water transportation infrustructure.
 
Brian Hammond, Reeve of the Municipal District of Pincher Creek, says the road paving project in particular is a long time coming.
 
“We’ve made numerous attempts to get the government to fund that paving. We have continuous pressure from our constituents and people who are at the ski resort. It’s a road that’s needed to be paved for a long time.”
 
Hammond says it’s not just a winter issue, but they also have to implement a significant dust control program every year, and it is a safety issue.
 
He also says more people will likely visit the Castle Mountain Resort if the road is finally paved.
 
Castle Mountain Resort General Manager Brad Brush says the news is encouraging for the tourist sector.
 
“It will provide safe and consistent access for many, many visitors,” explains Brush. “Their experience on this route will also create lasting memories… I drive that road every day and it is truly an amazing drive. It will be so much better when it is paved all the way.”
 
Phillips adds that when the water lines are completed, it will bring clean drinking water to the resort and to Castle Provincial Park, and the 100 or so people living in Beaver Mines won’t have to have water trucked in anymore.