Pressure is mounting for work to begin on improvements to Township Rd. 42-5A — commonly referred to as the O’Chiese Road.
Tammy Burke, project consultant with O’Chiese First Nation and former Rocky Mountain House mayor expressed frustration that the road continues to be delayed despite years of talks.
“It’s in an atrocious state right now,” she said. “I’ve had ambulance drivers tell me they can’t go faster than 50 km/h with a patient onboard.”
Another lengthy debate regarding the road occurred during Clearwater County council on July 22.
In the interest of progress, council made a motion to proceed with $150,000 detail design work for future base pave of 16.7 km of the road to be put into budget 2026.
A June 24 motion to enter into a 50/50 cost share up to $450,000 with the First Nation for a 400m road realignment to the new Baptiste River Bridge still stands.
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The First Nation was successful in securing over $12.6 million in a federal Disaster Mitigation & Adaptation Fund grant for the bridge.
With construction on the bridge set to begin soon, Burke says she’d ultimately like to see the whole project — bridge, realignment, paved county road — all done in one fell swoop.
Officials with O’Chiese First Nation would like to see O’Chiese Road paved as opposed to brought up to a gravel standard. (Oliver Mackinaw)
In an interview with 94.5 Rewind Radio News, O’Chiese First Nation Chief Phyllis Whitford agreed, especially since it’s the one road in to Rocky Mountain House for residents to get their mail, see the doctor, or get groceries.
“We’ve worked with Clearwater County,” she says. “We’ve helped advocate to get that road paved, to get funding— now we’re at a road block.”
Clearwater County had earmarked $8 million to the paving project, while the Alberta government had also committed $8 million to advance the project. Clearwater County and the O’Chiese First Nation have been lobbying the federal government for the last third of the funding for the project.
“We just aren’t sure what other advocacy [the county] is doing,” said Burke. “We’ve done our part, we just don’t know what they’re doing to secure the $8 million.
She points out that the road is used by not only First Nation traffic, but also industry which constitutes a large portion of Clearwater County’s tax base.
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“If the road between Red Deer and Rocky Mountain House was the same standard, we wouldn’t put up with that,” says Burke. “The residents of O’Chiese First Nation and Sunchild deserve to have a road of decent standard.”
“We need to have it paved,” said Whitford. “It’s very unsafe to be driving on that road.
Clearwater County councillor Genny Mehlhaff, who initially advocated to expedite paving work, said this week still saw progress.
“I do feel like we made a big step forward having the detailed design added to the 2026 budget cycle,” she said. “I hope the new incoming council makes the right choice and keeps it in the budget.”
O’Chiese Road as seen July 22, 2025. (Oliver Mackinaw)
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