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Valley Traffi c Systems
Servicing the Road Builder
Industry for Over 22 Years!
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and Drums
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EDMONTON • CALGARY • GRANDE PRAIRIE • LANGLEY
procurement priorities are decades out of date and have
no way of capturing essential technological advantages
available in the heavy construction industry.
Alberta roads are designed to standards that value short-term
savings over long-term life-cycle benefits in the way of
infrastructure integrity, asset management, environmental
impact and, ultimately, taxpayer value and safety for the
builders and users of our roadways.
This can and should be done better.
Roads are critical to Alberta’s economy and our
quality of life. As the Alberta government looks toward
economic recovery, it should revisit our Advisory Panel
recommendations about how roads can be part of the
success it seeks.
We identified four priority areas that will provide for
a successful modernized approach to road infrastructure
governance and accountability.
The first was the creation of an independent agency
responsible for managing road infrastructure – everything
from projection selection, procurement, contract delivery
and maintenance.
This kind of governance structure would go a long way
to mitigating the planning and funding uncertainties that
prevent roadbuilding and heavy construction companies
from allocating adequate time and resources to projects.
An arms-length agency could establish performance,
service and accountability standards for all parties involved
in developing and maintaining Alberta’s road transportation
network. It would clarify roles often blurred by red tape,
ensuring government remains responsible for strategic
direction and policy development, and delegates planning,
procurement and project management to an administrative
authority that is removed from politics and partisanship.
We made this recommendation long before the current
Government of Alberta vowed to remove politics from
infrastructure planning, and we are hopeful that it is
factored into the Infrastructure Act that will be presented to
Albertans this fall.
The second priority the Advisory Panel identified was for
the government to develop a long-term vision and strategy
Heather Kennedy, P. Eng
Photo coutesy of Heather Kennedy
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