2 days Ago By Stephen Tipper
The Alberta government announced $1.8 million Tuesday for a new road between a provincial highway and the JBS Food plant near Brooks, allowing plant workers to bypass a busy intersection and use a quicker, safer alternate route. The new road, between Highway 873 and the JBS facility, will save workers up to 45 minutes on their daily commute to and from the beef processing facility, says the province.
Design work has been completed, and construction is expected to start this spring and be completed this fall. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said the drive from the JBS plant to downtown Brooks, which is less than eight kilometres, should take 10 minutes — a “dream commute” for anyone. “Unfortunately for plant workers living in Brooks, 10 minutes from JBS to home remains exactly that — a dream,” said Smith during Tuesday’s news conference, held outside the entrance sign to the JBS facility.
The intersection of Range Road 150 and the Trans-Canada Highway creates a “huge bottleneck,” challenging drivers to turn safely onto a provincial highway while vehicles travel at highway speeds in both directions, said Smith. “Anyone who’s made a hard left turn onto a highway knows you need a long, clear gap in oncoming traffic. Multiply that by the string of vehicles leaving the plant at shift change and it’s easy to see how this road can get backed up in a hurry,” said the premier.
JBS Foods Canada employs about 3,200 people at its facility near Brooks, about 160 kilometres southeast of Calgary, and last year announced a $90-million investment for a new beef patty processing line and fulfillment centre. Construction is expected to be completed in the fall. The province said last July that JBS is expected to receive a $10.
7-million tax credit for expanding the facility . Currently, about 8,500 vehicles use Highway 1 daily in the Brooks area, and roughly 5,500 vehicles use Highway 873 each day in the area, says the province. “The JBS Foods plant is growing, just like Brooks and the rest of Newell County, and this project will support that growth, improve the road infrastructure in this key part of Alberta and enhance the quality of life for the people who live here,” said Smith.
The Alberta government is providing Newell County, which is delivering the project, with $1.2 million in grant funding from its Strategic Transportation Infrastructure Program and $600,000 from its Capital Maintenance and Renewal Funding Program to make improvements to the provincial intersection at Highway 873. City of Brooks deputy mayor Joel Goodnough called the new JBS road an important one for the community and the safety of JBS workers.
“This is a project we’ve been hoping for for many years,” he said Tuesday. Over the last few years, JBS Foods president Celio Fritche said more than 1,000 more employees have been hired at the facility, allowing it to ramp up production by over 50 per cent. In turn, that has led to a substantial increase in traffic coming to and from the facility.
“This road will allow team members to access the facility way quicker and securely,” said Fritche..
