Popular Lac des Arcs Roadside Pullout Could Be Closed Over Safety Concerns

A familiar roadside pullout along Lac des Arcs could be shut down as Alberta looks to address long-standing safety concerns where vehicles merge onto the Trans-Canada Highway.

During a Sept. 8 council meeting, MD of Bighorn officials backed a proposal from Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors to close the pullout and replace the existing access with a proper highway on-ramp.

The MD says the westbound ramp has long been considered a high-risk area for collisions and vehicle conflicts, with residents previously asking council to advocate for safety improvements.

“I was personally tickled to see this because this is something I've been talking to the province about for 9 years,” Reeve Lisa Rosvold said during the meeting. 

“I'm super supportive of preparing a letter of support for the province to move forward with this and I believe the community would also be quite supportive of it.” 

Before passing the motion, Councillor Jen Smith also voiced her support. 

“I'll make the motion because I've only been waiting five years and heard from numerous residents.”

A scenic stop with a safety problem 

Located westbound along Highway 1, the stop is well known for its striking view of the surrounding mountains and the largest cement plant in Canada. 

Despite sharing a landscape with Amrize Exshaw, the area is well-used by visitors hoping to snap a photo, and stretch their legs before getting back on the road.

RCMP data provided to Bow Valley Insider offers some context for the safety concerns. The figures cover reported collisions at the Lac Des Arcs interchange from Jan. 1 through Sept. 12, 2026.

“At the Lac Des Arcs interchange, we have had 12 reported collisions. That would include eastbound and westbound lanes, as well as any multi-vehicle collisions that happened during that time period,” he said.

While the figure covers the entire interchange, the MD's own report specifically identifies the westbound ramp as an area at high risk for collisions and vehicle conflicts. And those concerns aren't new.

Safety concerns date back more than 20 years

More than two decades ago, Alberta Transportation examined the roadside stopping areas around Lac des Arcs as part of a broader review of safety rest areas in southern Alberta.

The highway location identified in a 2005 report closely corresponds with the rest area marked for removal in the current engineering drawing. 

The provincial assessment described the site as an unsigned and “substandard” roadside turnout. Its acceleration and deceleration lanes were considered too short, while its location between Highway 1 and the lake left insufficient space to expand the site.

The recommendation was to remove it, with the province citing the constrained location, highway geometry, design standards and spacing between roadside facilities. 

More than 20 years later, the current proposal suggests at least part of that decades-old safety issue could finally be addressed.

So what would actually change?

The proposal currently before the MD isn't simply about taking away a place to pull off the highway.

The municipality says closing the easternmost pullout would allow the province to replace the existing arrangement with a proper westbound Highway 1 on-ramp.

The engineering concept included in the council package identifies the existing rest area for closure and removal and depicts changes to the roadway around the westbound merge.

The council documents do not indicate when construction could begin or provide details about the project's current approval status and what steps remain before the pullout could be closed.

During the Sept. 8 meeting, Chief Administration Officer Shaina Kelly said the municipality needed to send its letter of support “as soon as possible.” Rosvold later suggested council could call a special meeting in the future when similarly time-sensitive requests arise. 

For now, council's vote does not itself close the pullout. It directs the MD to send a letter supporting Transportation and Economic Corridors' proposal.

Bow Valley Insider reached out to Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors for more information about the proposal but had not received a response before publication.