Heavily used roads in the City of Calgary’s jurisdiction within the Bearspaw area may be receiving upgrades soon, thanks to requests made by Rocky View County (RVC) Area Councillor Al Sacuta.
According to Sacuta, during RVC’s most recent intermunicipal meeting with the City of Calgary, he asked the City prioritize repairs to Range Road 23 north of Burma Road, and look into the expansion of 12 Mile Coulee Road to four lanes.
“Range Road 23 has probably been a problem for longer than I’ve been working on it,” Sacuta said.
“I first started working on it last spring when people started calling me about it, and I’ve been working on it on-and-off ever since.”
Approximately 1.5 kilometres (km) of RR-23 became a part of the City of Calgary in the last annexation, according to Sacuta. He said the City has been contacted “numerous times” about its stretch of the road, but said since it doesn’t affect “the city’s” residents, it’s not a high priority for them.
“The City’s portion of RR-23 is unsafe, and they have admitted as much,” Sacuta said.
“You can’t drive around the deep potholes, there are so many. Some residents have damaged their vehicles. I hate that I can’t seem to help them.”
Sacuta said RVC offered to chip seal the City’s section of road when the County sealed the rest of RR-23, and would have “billed the City” for the small portion of road, but according to Sacuta, the City declined.
“To be blunt, the City has other priorities, and if RVC projects move up the list, other projects that affect more City residents move down,” said Sacuta.
“That said, they shouldn’t annex roads they have no intention of maintaining.”
According to District Foreman with Calgary Roads Brent Bourgette, repairs to the section of RR-23, or 85th Street, are scheduled for 2015.
“When weather conditions permit, what we are planning to do is tear up the road and recycle it back onto itself, and then it will become a safe, sealed road,” Bourgette said. “That is the current plan, but come April or May, someone may come up with a better solution.”
However, Bourgette said the City of Calgary hasn’t indicated plans to widen their portion of 12 Mile Coulee Road, which extends from Crowchild Trail to Country Hills Boulevard.
“12 Mile Coulee Road has been an issue ever since Watermark (residential development) started subdividing. This road is already reaching capacity and should be expanded soon,” Sacuta said.
“It should be serviceable until Watermark finishes their next phase, but I would like to see it upgraded no later than 2017. 2016 would be better. I don’t want them scrambling around at the last minute.”
The next intermunicipal meeting between RVC and the City of Calgary will take place in January 2015, and Sacuta said he plans to follow up with them then.
“I hope if we keep bugging them, they won’t forget about it,” he said.
