Ring Road Debacle

Ring Road Debacle

 

 

Barry Erskine has shown he is not a good politician by the way he has lost his focus and failed to maintain what should be the real focus of city council, on the debate over the ring road.

 

The idea of connecting the community roads to the east of the Tsu Tsina should never have become a condition to having the ring road developed in Calgary’s South West quadrant. The ring road is a project being negotiated between the province and the Tsu Tsina.

 

The issue as to whether we in the communities of Calgary that will be impacted are against the development of either the commercial area of the Tsu Tsina lands, or the ring road is non-starter. As is the idea we are somehow demanding that the access to the commercial and retail area be denied to the members or residents of the Tsu Tsina.

 

What we don’t want are our neighborhoods being used as a feeder area through which all of the traffic will travel to access the retail and commercial development.

 

A ring road’s function, by its very name, is to take traffic around the city, not to be used as a community feeder.

 

The ring road should be left at that.

 

If it is access the Tsu Tsina need for their people to the commercial and retail area, then they can bear that cost themselves, as that is for the benefit of their people. Just like a developer in Calgary does, that cost can be factored into the cost of developing the commercial and retail operation.

 

Any access for the Tsu Tsina people should be done through the lands of the Tsu Tsina, and not through neighborhoods of Calgary that don’t want the extra traffic.

 

There is not one member of any of the affected Calgary communities who would think for one minute they should have access to Westhill’s shopping center through the communities on the Tsu Tsina’s land

 

The commercial and retail area can be accessed quite efficiently from a connection made to Glenmore Trail where it will impact neighborhoods minimally, and allow for the quick access and egress of the traffic on to the ring road.

 

In the past few years, Anderson Road received an expensive upgrade in preparation for the 37^th Street SW Bridge across Fish Creek Park.

 

A large interchange was added as part of the upgrade, for access and egress for both Calgarians and members of the Tsu Tsina nation. Something no Calgarian fought against nor denied there should be.

 

An extension of 90^th Avenue does nothing to alleviate the traffic pressures of either Oakridge, or the far southwest.

 

An extension of Southland could alleviate some of the traffic pressures, if the traffic along Southland would move along to Deerfoot.

 

It does not. It comes along Southland to 24^th, and 14^th streets, or Elbow and MacLeod Trails to further clog a road system that is over taxed as it is, to head downtown.

 

Connecting Southland Drive and 90^th Avenue to the ring road, or to be used, as through roads feeding the commercial and retail developments on the Tsu Tsina does not serve the best interests of Calgary.

 

If the Chief of the Tsu Tsina people wants to only deal with the province and not city hall that is his prerogative.

 

Erskine, et al are not at city hall to work on a solution that best suits the needs of the Tsu Tsina nation.