ROB MURRAY: Why don’t we have a conversation about that intersection? Because, I don’t know, people seem to like talking about it.

MAYOR JOHN BORROWMAN: Which intersection are you talking about, Rob?

RM: I don’t know, some construction or something or other.

JB: I’ve heard something about that, you’re right.

It’s been an ongoing source of frustration and difficulty for everybody in Canmore, including the Town Administration. It’s a big project and thankfully we’re just about through it. They’re just at the final details now. The traffic detection cameras are in operation, the stop lines will be moved back. Engineering wanted to try the stop lines where they put them but they were painted with non-permanent paint so that they could be moved, and they’re moving. The traffic monitoring will continue into the weekend and they’ll be tweaked to the signal timing.

TANYA FOUBERT: This relates back to the whole issue of tourism and addressing issues related to visitation. It’s not just residents who are moving around in our community so when you get those cumulative numbers, the traffic systems that you need to manage those different users, you start looking at non-traditional approaches. We’re a small town but we have way larger numbers of people moving through this intersection than we would if we didn’t have tourism as a driving force in our economy. We also live in Alberta, and the standards for road construction, even the Traffic Safety Act – the leadership at the provincial level for incorporating cycling into our communities is not where I’m seeing it. Where I’m seeing leadership, and this is where there’s also risk, is with the Town of Canmore. We’re trying something new

JB: Fairly new for North America. I understand that the design is not unusual for Europe and it works quite well there. The simple fact is – it’s the busiest intersection in Canmore and sees a high volume of traffic of all sorts, and it’s old. Sooner or later you have to rebuild your infrastructure. In this project it was a lot of underground work done as well. The water and all the underground lines had to be replaced, so a huge project. We don’t have the space to expand and just build more and more lanes. We have to be very thoughtful about the design of critical interchanges or traffic routes like that intersection. I think Engineering has done a really great job visioning the future for our transportation network in Canmore. People can learn a lot more about that online, including a really great short webinar. I’ve heard from some residents who have taken the time to watch that webinar that they understand the design criteria and are, like myself, quite impressed by the work that they’re doing in designing this kind of infrastructure.

RM: It still seems like it’s maybe not 100% working the way it’s supposed to. For example, I’ve noticed the last couple of days the westbound traffic at The Shops and back to the roundabout has been really backed up. I think Engineering is still tweaking things?

JB: For sure. A project like this will be monitored for quite a long while and tweaked, as you say, as necessary to make it work. I’m remembering when we approved the first roundabout in Canmore, which is the one just east of that intersection going into Spring Creek, and we had very similar concerns in the community. People thought that roundabout was going to be a death trap, people would die, and it would never work. It works pretty well, and fast forward, none of those concerns have come to be.

TF: One thing I’ve learned over time about transportation engineering – you have your theoretical, then you have the real world space where you implement those designs and plans, then you see if they work the way they’re intended, and then you adjust. I think that part of the challenge that I’m feeling in our community is we don’t have the wavelength emotionally or the patience to put up with this inconvenience right now. That’s why we’re seeing some big reactions to delays and changes to how the traffic patterns work, but patience and understanding will get us through this.

RM: I just received a message on our Facebook page. Someone saying, “I love the new intersection and use it several times a day. I think it’s really great. A few tweaks might be necessary, but nothing major.” This person is also saying, “I wouldn’t dare say that on social media though as I’d be skewered. I bet there are many people like myself who actually like it, but we’re scared to say so.” Maybe that plays into it a little bit – the climate of social media right now.

JB: Yeah, we all know what’s happening there and can happen, which is one reason I don’t look at social media, but whoever that was, thank you.

TF: Everyone who is mad – why weren’t you involved in the policy development and the community engagement when the new designs and transportation master plans for the town were made? That’s where this stuff comes from. I would just encourage people to not dismiss conversations about high-level policy issues in the town because this is where we see them hit the ground. We can’t go back in time, but I think that moving forward, the next Council and the next big transportation master plan project, we’re going to see a more engaged community.

JB: One of the things that’s really frustrating some people is it’s seen as a war on cars. I’ve heard people suggest that we’re trying to force people out of their cars, which isn’t the case at all. We’re trying to make our infrastructure safe for all modes of transport, including cars, but pedestrians and cyclists. That’s part of our future visioning – to improve the ability of people getting around our community without a car if that’s their choice. I think give it a couple of years and things will sort of simmer down. People will see that it’s working fine. Engineering we’ll continue to monitor and tweak as necessary.

Filed under: Canmore, Mayor John Borrowman, Mountain Insider