The interchange at Highway 1 and Range Road 31 in Springbank will require upgrades in at least the next seven to 10 years, a consultant retained by Alberta Transportation to conduct a Functional Planning Study of the corridor explained to Rocky View County (RVC) council.
“The need for this is catalyzed by development,” said Arthur Gordon with CastleGlen Consulting in his presentation to the RVC Policy and Priorities Committee meeting on March 4.
He said based on the development proposed and approved in the area both in RVC and the border of the City of Calgary, “growth has to be accommodated.”
“When taking the whole surrounding area into account, we’re looking at 6,000 to 7,000 new homes in the area, potentially three-million to 4.5-million-square-feet of business park office and industrial, and about 1.5-million to-2-million-square-feet of retail space, in addition to all the institutions such as public schools, parks and community centres that can develop over time,” said Gordon.
Based on information gathered during the study, which began in 2012, Gordon said more than 24,000 vehicles travel along Highway 1 past the Range Road 31 interchange each day. He explained Highway 1 will need to be upgraded to six lanes within the next seven to 10 years, and to eight lanes within the next 20 to 30 years.
He added other upgrades will include: reconfiguring the interchange onto Range Road 31, widening Range Road 31 to a four-lane standard north and south of the interchange, and constructing a new two-lane overpass bridge east of the current structure to accommodate northbound traffic. Gordon said more than 23,000 vehicles per day (VPD) travel east of the interchange on Range Road 31, and more than 28,000 VPD on the western portion.
Gordon said the project would take place in stages, beginning with rehabilitating the current bridge structure, reconfiguring the ramps off of Highway 1 and widening Highway 1. He said the first stage would cost about $33 million.
The project at full build-out will cost $208 million, which includes eight lanes on Highway 1 and six lanes on Range Road 31, as well as the cost to reduce Highway 1 to a three per cent grade and to make improvements to the nearby Highway 563 corridor that will also be impacted by future growth.
Councillors questioned who will be responsible to foot the bill.
“The vast majority of this (cost) is the interchange itself, (it) will have to be accommodated by all of the parties that benefit from it. The Province’s opinion right now is that development should have a significant contribution in order to make sure that this comes about,” said Gordon, adding the City of Calgary will likely also contribute to the project.
Public input sessions were held in 2012 and 2013 to consult with area landowners and residents about the proposed upgrades, and Gordon said more than 160 written comments were received.
Reeve Margaret Bahcheli thanked the consultants for involving the public.
“I really appreciate the emphasis you put on the community input, that you gave it value, that you listened, it was a community that was very nervous that their voices wouldn’t be heard, and I want to thank you for that,” she said.
The committee voted to approve incorporating the study into municipal planning documents, master development plans and area structure plans to be taken into consideration for future land-use planning and traffic forecasts.
No timeline has been identified by the Province as to when construction might begin.
