{"id":713690,"date":"2026-06-04T03:44:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T03:44:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/713690\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T03:44:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T03:44:28","slug":"south-edmonton-rural-road-used-to-bypass-qeii-a-rutted-muddy-mess-its-teeth-chattering-edmonton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/713690\/","title":{"rendered":"South Edmonton rural road used to bypass QEII a rutted, muddy mess: \u2018It\u2019s teeth-chattering\u2019 – Edmonton"},"content":{"rendered":"

A heavily-used gravel road in rural south Edmonton is drawing complaints from area residents who say worsening conditions are making it nearly undriveable \u2014 especially after recent rain.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The stretch of 153 Street SW, also known as Range Road 253, between 73 Avenue SW and Highway 19 has evolved from a quiet country road into a busy commuter route in recent years.<\/p>\n

Locals say the increased traffic has taken a toll.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s teeth-chattering,\u201d said resident Chris Blake, who has lived along the road since 2001. \u201cIt shakes every bolt and piece of plastic in your car.\u201d<\/p>\n

The area used to be part of Leduc County but was annexed by the City of Edmonton in 2019.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tA map showing the problematic stretch of 153 Street, also known as Range Road 253, between 73 Avenue SW and Highway 19 in rural south Edmonton.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGlobal News\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Since then \u2014 and even before \u2014 Blake has watched the condition of the unpaved road steadily decline into a rutted, muddy mess that requires vehicles to slow to a crawl in some sections or risk suspension damage.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

After a heavy rainfall like the Edmonton region experienced over the past three days, the road gets even worse.<\/p>\n

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The route has become a popular shortcut for drivers travelling between the city and the Edmonton International Airport and Nisku areas\u00a0 \u2014 often used to avoid the nearby adjacent Highway 2.<\/p>\n

While Global News was in the area Wednesday morning, there was a steady stream of traffic traversing the bumpy dirt road, including several Amazon delivery trucks.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tAmazon delivery trucks along a stretch of 153 Street, also known as Range Road 253, between 73 Avenue SW and Highway 19 in rural south Edmonton, onWednesday, June 3, 2026.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGlobal News\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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Blake said the city grades and adds gravel to the road a few times a year, but those fixes only last for days before the surface deteriorates again, particularly in wet weather.<\/p>\n

According to Blake, the road was never designed to handle the current volume of traffic, resulting in heavy wear and tear on vehicles and disruptions for nearby residents.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

Frustrated by the lack of long-term solutions, Blake has started handing out flyers to commuters, urging them to contact the city and the area councillor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not much I can do but voice my frustration, because I live on this road,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I was anybody other than the few families that live on this road, I would take any other road \u2026 but unfortunately, I am stuck.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blake said residents ultimately want the range road paved.<\/p>\n

The City of Edmonton said there is currently no active construction project or capital funding earmarked for the stretch.<\/p>\n

Mayor Andrew Knack said the city faces competing demands as it sets its budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe message that I want to drive home with Edmontonians is that we have a lot of different priorities coming up in this four-year budget,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will not be able to do everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A heavily-used gravel road in rural south Edmonton is drawing complaints from area residents who say worsening conditions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":713691,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194294],"tags":[49,48,23752,88101,240118,258623,1890],"class_list":["post-713690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edmonton","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-edmonton","tag-edmonton-roads","tag-leduc-county","tag-rural-edmonton","tag-traffic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=713690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/713691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=713690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=713690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=713690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}