Highway 63 North Area Structure Plan
Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, Alberta

In 1998 an interdisciplinary consulting team led by Armin A. Preiksaitis & Associates Ltd. was retained to prepare an Area Structure Plan for the Highway 63 North Corridor, which connects Fort McMurray with the oil sands plants. This busy stretch of highway had experienced considerable pressure for industrial and commercial development without the benefit of an overall plan.

Armin A. Preiksaitis & Associates Ltd. worked with landowners, business people, and other stakeholders to prepare a future development concept for the area that would maintain traffic flow along Highway 63 and protect sensitive environmental features.

Through community consultation techniques such as key person interviews, consensus building work-shops, and an open house on the draft plan, the firm was able to achieve a broad base of support for the future development concept.

With plans for twinning this stretch of Highway 63 guidelines were also developed for development along the highway regarding the siting and design of buildings, landscape treatments, location and storage of parking areas and signing.

Client: Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo
Completion Date: April 1999