Council to look further into viable transportation solution

Times Reporter

 

In late June the Alberta government released Green Trip funds for a total of $2.4 million. The Calgary Regional Partnership Transportation Initiative has allocated $800 million to go towards helping smaller municipalities look at transportation options. Strathmore councillor Bob Sobol has sat on the Calgary Regional Partnership, CRP, and Transportation committee for the past two years.

“Much of this for us and other communities was put on hold because we weren’t sure if or when the Green Trip funds would be released.

“The funds were released last year, and it changed things for many communities,” said Sobol. 

A few communities didn’t wait for the Green Funds. Airdrie had gone forward and Okotoks has done feasibility studies. Previous council, with all of the big projects going on in the last few years, wanted to stay in the loop but did not want the plans until they found out what was going on with the Green Trip. 

“Many of the major issues we have been dealing with in the last few years are done, and now it is time, in my opinion, it is time to find out if there is any type of serious commitment or interest in a transportation plan for Strathmore as part of the CRP,” said Sobol. 

Sobol had invited Mayors Truper McBride, from Cochrane, and Patricia Mathews, from Chestermere, to make a presentation to council about the CRP on Nov. 17. Due to the weather and road conditions neither was able to make it, but Sobol was able to speak in regards to what he had invited them for. 

The current Green Trip proposal is a three-year program. Sobol said the first step for Strathmore would be to have a feasibility study done to see if it is even a viable option for the town. The study would take up approximately one year of the three-year program.

Sobol put a motion to council asking for support, stating he was not looking for a motion for funding at that point. 

What brought the motion forward, said Sobol, was that they knew in advance they would need a staff member to coordinate some things and is something that will be done by administration eventually. 

Sobol said they needed a commitment, and though some concerns were brought forth by other council members, the motion was unanimously approved to have a staff member appointed to the initiative. 

“The next step in this case is going to be to have Mayors Truper McBride and Patricia Mathews in from Cochrane and Chestermere, they are ahead of us in this area, and then to give us an outline as to how they think things are going,” said Sobol. He said they will be coming before council at some point in December, but he was not sure of the date at the time of the interview. 

After the meeting, the next step would be to secure a motion to go ahead with the feasibility study. Going through a private consultant, the cost is $35,000 to $40,000 for the study. Because Strathmore is a part of the CRP, the town is able to use Calgary’s people to do the study and it would be at a reduced cost of $25,000. 

“We would not be able to get ours even commenced until next summer, but I want to get in line to have this done. It’s a good study because its very wide in what they are trying to find out,” said Sobol.  

It doesn’t just determine if transportation would be good for Strathmore but would also look at when the town would be able to implement such a thing. 

The CRP is trying to market it as a regional transportation line and Sobol believes everyone will be using the same buses as Calgary. 

“It’s not something that’s going to be here next week, but it is something that, as we continue to grow, I think its important to look at.” 

He thinks it will be well received because, though there is a commuter bus right now, it is not able to keep up with the needs and demands of the residents.