It finally looks as though Spring is here. While Spring brings better weather it’s also construction time and we have quite a bit of it going on in Bearspaw. I ask everyone to have a little patience and to please slow down in construction zones.
Construction on 12 Mile Coulee Road has begun. Last year saw some issues with burying the utilities which delayed the project. There are still a couple of loose ends regarding the utilities that will be completed immediately. Once those are done, road construction will begin. The completion date for the section North of Tuscany Way will be mid-July. South of Tuscany Way to 80th Avenue will be completed by late fall.
Along with widening the road, there will be a number of additional upgrades. Two crosswalks will be installed – one at 80th Avenue the other at Tuscany Way. A pathway will be constructed on the east side, and a sidewalk on the west side, from 80th Avenue to Tuscany Way. An emergency access will also be constructed to the south (by Lynx Ridge) to allow for access into Tuscany (emergency use only).
For residents north of the 1A, road widening will continue on Bearspaw Rd from Burma Rd to TWP Rd 262. This will primarily involve resurfacing and some slope grading as most of the major work was completed last year. Construction will start immediately and will be completed by the end of summer.
Other construction updates include the new County office. I recently took a tour of the new building which is slated to open in Fall 2018. While I still stumble over the building’s price tag – a whopping $42 million of grant money that I believe could have been used on more pressing projects – it is a vast improvement over the current office and allows all employees to be in the same building (not the case currently). The new office is located east of Cross Iron Mills, next to the Balzac Fire Hall – pictures are available on the county’s website – https://www.rockyview.ca/Government/NewCountyHall.aspx
On a whole other topic altogether, the Aggregate Resource Plan (ARP) is slated to come to a Council workshop. Given that most councillors are new, the majority felt that a workshop would provide better context and a greater understanding of the process to date. This is a good idea, however, I would still like to see a steering committee of residents and industry members work with Administration to see if they can find some common ground before it comes back to council for a decision.