Town of Sundre officials must take action to improve Centre Street North past Ninth Avenue, which has deteriorated to such an extent the road has become dangerous.
This was the message brought before council during its Sept. 19 meeting when eight residents from Sundre and Mountain View County came to express their concerns.
“There is a number of us who are so fed up, sick and tired, with Centre Street North,” said Sundre resident Lori Lunde.
“It's a major concern for several reasons.”
Those issues have been raised for more than 10 years, with the only action taken to date being quick band-aid repairs that have cumulatively only made the road even worse during that time, she said.
“I finally, last week, hit a pothole and I thought my motor was going to fall off.”
Lunde proceeded to read from a selection of comments people had shared on social media.
“The road near 12th Ave. is horrible,” reads one comment posted by Vanessa White, also a Sundre resident.
“I try to avoid going that way if I can. When there is no oncoming traffic, I swerve around the potholes and extremely poorly ‘fixed' spots. I am surprised no one has dented a rim yet on one of those spots on the road. It's ridiculous that the town hasn't done anything yet. Especially since they pride themselves in making Sundre look pretty. Fix the road and it will look a lot prettier.”
Angela Hasselmann, from Sundre, also commented online to say the rough patchwork over the potholes is for motorcyclists “enough to throw you off the road — you have to slow down big time.”
Other residents, such as Mishala Doucette, have simply looked for other ways to get around.
“I avoid going that way if possible,” she posted.
Several more residents also voiced dissatisfaction that one of the most highly taxed parts of town has such a deplorable access road, while others questioned the decision to spend money on new directional way-finding signs when there are roads like Centre Street North that are in dire need of attention.
“This isn't the first time you guys have heard this, I know it isn't — because I've been one of the complainers. Lots of residents have been complaining. If it's not in the budget to completely redo it, (at least) fix it. Fix it properly,” Lunde told council.
“We keep being told for years it's in the budget, it's in the budget. Well, in our lifetime?”
Meanwhile, rural residents with concerns have also been told that their issues cannot be addressed as they are not town residents, she said.
“If it weren't for the rural residents, there would be no businesses in town. You guys know that. A lot of the businesses are supported by rural people.”
Mayor Terry Leslie reiterated the points raised during the public address to ensure he had understood the concerns shared before he provided some background.
“We had a sense you might be coming,” he said.
In 2010, the Town of Sundre through an annexation assumed responsibility for that road, including any required repairs and maintenance. There is a capital project listing coming before council for 2017-18, and work on Centre Street North between 6th A Avenue and 12th Avenue is a part of that plan, he said.
“The cost of that fix would be $2.2 million. So the issue of whether a signage project for $35,000 that comes in at half that cost and fixing the road, those are two different projects with tremendously different cost.”
Also, the plan for Centre Street North is not limited only to repaving the surface of the road. Underground services, such as wastewater pipes, could potentially need to be upgraded depending on the plan to improve the sewage treatment lagoon — a project that itself will cost at least $7 million, he said.
“They're all tied together. We don't fix a road without dealing with all of the aging pipe and that type of thing under the ground.”
The mayor said council is aware of the situation on Centre Street and has plans to address it.
“We're on it. It's coming before council. You have an opportunity to come back during budget deliberations,” he said, encouraging people to return with their concerns.
“That will give council the public's expectations and priorities. So we need you to come to that meeting.”
Although dates had not yet been set for those budget discussions, the mayor said those meetings would be advertised. He also encouraged any rural residents with concerns to bring them before Mountain View County council, which worked with the Town of Sundre to complete last year's 10th Street West project.
“Our two municipalities need to hear from everybody in the community,” he said.
“Because when we can cost share, we can actually move forward with projects that are done more quickly in a shorter period of time.”
The county's council has already expressed a desire to work collaboratively with the Town of Sundre council on projects like the wastewater treatment plant.
“So this would be another ability for their public to hear from them — that the expectation is that there should be cost sharing for roads, streets, water, wastewater in our community because we all use it and we all benefit from it,” he said.
“We believe that we are a community and we want to listen to the concerns, because we know you don't trip over the county line or the town boundary (when you go) in and out of town.”
The mayor added that he had no excuses because the project is on a list.
“It doesn't come fast enough for any of us,” he said.
