Highway 2 expansion through Red Deer wetland prompts conservation concerns

The provincial government is expanding Alberta's busiest highway, but some are worried wetlands near Red Deer will be lost to make way for the widened route. 

The Highway 2 corridor will be expanded through three phases of construction that will see sections of the route expanded and realigned near the central Alberta city.

In preliminary design documents, ministry planners tout the project as a way to provide a smoother, safer ride through the Red Deer region and ease congestion on a highway that serves millions of drivers each year.

But as the highway shifts and expands, wetlands and forested areas in Red Deer's Maskepetoon Park will be lost to development — raising concern from conservationists and the City of Red Deer.

According to preliminary designs, the highway will cut through the northwest edge of the park, a 30 hectare parcel of land within the Waskasoo Park system along the city's western boundary, just north of the Red Deer River. 

Todd Nivens, executive director of Waskasoo Environmental Education Society, said the project could cause unforeseen harm to a fragile habitat within Maskepetoon Park, which is rich in biodiversity. 

A 2007 master plan developed for the City of Red Deer described Maskepetoon Park as an "ecologically significant and valuable area containing many unique natural features."

The wetland, which includes a tamarack fen surrounded by mixed wood forest, serves as an important buffer between the highway to the west, the Red Deer River to the east and south, Nivens said.

"The reality is that wetlands are extremely dynamic environments and they are extremely reactive to changes in their inputs," he said. 

''We need to really think about what the impacts are going to be. How do we offset that by providing habitat, with the expectation that this space may not survive this process." 

The province has promised to offset the loss of the wetlands through the creation of a new habitat.  According to planning documents, a gravel pit from construction would be converted into a new natural area, with ponds and wetlands, when the highway expansion is finished.

An open house in Red Deer on Tuesday was dominated with questions about the wetland.

Greg Sikora, Red Deer's parks and public works manager, was there and said residents are concerned about the loss of a beloved habitat.

The designs remain preliminary but city is working with the province to minimize the damage and determine how Red Deer can be compensated for the harms the highway is likely to cause to one of the city's cherished parks, he said.