Approach design standards in Athabasca County are guided by Policy 3335. The policy helps ensure a high construction standard of accesses in order to enhance the safety of the travelling public and ensure proper drainage. The policy addresses approach location, design, construction methods, culvert sizing, upgrade procedure, quantity per parcel of land, and maintenance responsibilities.
New Approaches
Athabasca County Council, on request, may provide one approach to all owners of un-subdivided lands within the boundaries of Athabasca County and adjacent lands to developed roadways.
To request an additional approach, a landowner or their designate, must complete and submit the ‘New Approach Request’ form. New approach requests shall be reviewed by the Director of Infrastructure Services, or their designate, which will include an on-site visit. This review will evaluate factors such as sight lines, road surface, traffic loads, drainage paths, and other approaches within the vicinity. The County reserves the right to approve, modify, or deny these requests at its discretion.
Approach Design and Construction
For residential applications, approaches are required to have a minimum width of seven and one half (7.5) meters, but must not exceed a culvert length of nine (9) meters unless approved by the County. Where an approach is being constructed to provide access for large equipment, such as farm machinery, the width of the approach shall not be less than ten (10) meters.
Culvert length for these industrial applications is not to exceed fourteen (14) meters, except in County approved situations.
Required culvert diameter will be determined by the County and/or its representatives. Culverts with a diameter less than four hundred (400) millimeters will not be acceptable under any circumstances. Approaches requiring culverts with diameters exceeding one thousand five hundred (1500) millimeters will be assessed and designed by a qualified engineer. As a general rule, culvert diameter will either match or exceed the diameter of culverts upstream.
New approaches must be located a minimum of ninety (90) meters away from a County road intersection. The County reserves the right to deny construction by applicants or contractors based on past performance or outstanding fees owed to the County.
New approaches are to be constructed with clean fill material, free of frost chunks and organics. Approaches must be built flat onto the roadway.
Approach Maintenance Responsibilities
Approaches within the County Right Of Way (ROW) are to be maintained by the Athabasca County Infrastructure Services Department. This maintenance may include reshaping approaches, applying gravel if necessary, and ensuring proper drainage.
New approaches that have been constructed without the County’s consent, or have not been constructed to standards that were agreed upon by the constructor, will not be maintained by the County.
During the construction of a new approach, the County will impose a twelve (12) month warranty period on the owner who requested the approach. Any maintenance that is out of the ordinary scope of work for approaches will be the responsibility of the owner.
After the warranty period is over, and all agreed upon conditions have been met, the County will assume full responsibility for the approach.
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To find out more about Approach Standards, view the policy by clicking on the link below.
