Vehicles are shown on Highway 3 outside Medicine Hat in this undated photo. (CHAT News File Photo)

By Chris Brown

Highway 3 twinning one of few local mentions in Alberta budget

Feb 28, 2023 | 4:23 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The province’s 2023 Budget is scarce on mentions for Medicine Hat or other communities in southeastern Alberta.

The capital plan includes $75 million over three years for engineering or planning on projects that are addressing future growth, such as twinning Highway 3 from Medicine Hat to the British Columbia border.

The twinning of the section from Taber to Burdett was announced last fall and the government plans to start construction on that portion this spring. The budget has that work as a $31 million expenditure this year, with an additional $63 million in the next forecasts for the next two years.

The Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede’s proposed grandstand development and expansion is also a line item in the budget. Funding of $1 million is noted for last year’s budget, with nothing earmarked for 2023-24 or the next two budget years.

Two nearby communities are in line for money as part of the Alberta Surgical Initiative Capital Program. Brooks and Taber are part of the $237 million over three years intended to increase surgical capacity and help reduce surgical wait times.

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