The concerns of Sharp Hill residents – a Rocky View County subdivision located in southeast of Airdrie – regarding traffic driving through the community were brought before City council on July 15.
Sharp Hill resident William Leschasin voiced his concerns on behalf of his neighbours during the public presentation segment of the meeting of council.
He was concerned that Airdrie residents are driving through Sharp Hill to reach CrossIron Mills mall in Balzac and north Calgary via Stoney Trail.
“We have concerns in our community that cover safety and traffic within our subdivision,” said Leschasin.
“This is not a new subject and I believe that this issue had been brought forward to a previous council.”
Leschasin presented a similar brief to Rocky View County council on May 14.
The traffic concerns were first brought to Rocky View County administration’s attention in June 2011.
Leschasin said at the time there had been no line of communication between Rocky View and Airdrie councils regarding this issue.
According to Rocky View County Reeve Rolly Ashdown, Airdrie and the County work well together but there is no need for collaboration on this concern.
“Airdrie (didn’t need to) communicate with us on this matter because it is a county issue,” he said.
“Our administration is working with Sharp Hill regarding traffic issues.”
Leschasin said Kings Heights Road, which is currently under construction, will have four lanes feeding it and that will add to the traffic problems.
“There’s no sidewalks and there’s no lighting in the winter; the (Airdrie)Kingsview subdivision has over 1,100 residents, that’s about 10 times the number of housing units in Sharp Hill,” he said.
Leschasin also raised concerns about there being no school bus stops in the area and said it is unsafe for children to be waiting alongside the road with the amount of traffic. He also had an issue with litter being thrown from cars and on to the sides of the road.
Rocky View County put up signs to remind motorists to be courteous when travelling through Sharp Hill in 2011, but Leschasin says it seems the signs are going unnoticed.
Airdrie Mayor Peter Brown said the correspondence from Leschasin was the first time he heard of the issue and suggested he bring it forward at the next meeting of the Inter-Municipal Committee (IMC).
“Really what this is for us is trying to be good neighbours,” said Brown.
“This was the first time that I had heard that Sharp Hill residents were being affected by traffic through that area.”
According to Brown, the issues with traffic may have arisen due to a number of Airdrie residents who work at CrossIron Mills mall and prefer not to use Highway 2 but take Kingsview Boulevard south and through Sharp Hill.
“The next step is really to collect the information; I haven’t heard that the county has done a traffic study or anything like that,” said Brown.
“Until we collect all the data and understand the issue, then we can start to move forward and understand the issue and try to lessen the impact of traffic through that area.”
The County has posted a public survey on its website with three questions about traffic in the area for the public to answer.
Area County Councillor Lois Habberfield said the survey was put in place to gauge if the majority of local residents support Leschasin’s request for a yield sign to be turned into a three-way stop and the speed limit in the area to be lowered to 35 km/h from 50 km/h.
“We wanted to conduct an independent survey to make sure that majority are in support of this,” she said.
Habberfield said if the survey shows that residents are in favour of the changes, they will be brought back to Rocky View County council for a vote in September.
Alderman Murray Buchanan said he had heard these concerns before and urged his fellow members of council to take a first-hand look at the area in question.
“I have been out there and had a look at it,” said Buchanan.
“When you see the four lanes coming on Kingsview (Bouelvard) straight on to this road (Stagecoach Lane) you can see that it’s not good now and it has the potential to get much worse.”
County staff will be presenting the results of the survey to Rocky View council through the Infrastructure and Operations Committee on Sept. 17.
