The Rural Road Master Plan review
Published September 11, 2009
The Rural Road Master Plan is currently being reviewed. Rural residents of Strathcona County will be receiving a questionnaire soon in their mail and are asked to complete and return it by September 21.
It shouldn't take long to complete and its importance to determining what kind of road system will be supported in the future is significant. If you do not receive a copy, please call 780-451-2130, ext. 325. The questionnaire is also available to complete online at www.strathcona.ab.ca, if that is your preference.
There are a limited number of questions and from the input I have received over the past several years, the issues are unlimited, so please use the additional comment section to note any issues you feel are not covered.
In the past, residents have appeared at a Council open house looking for delineation of lanes on roads that are too narrow to handle the increased traffic and improvements to width and back slope. Vehicles have changed, some of the justification for additional urban snow clearing is because more people are driving vehicles with smaller tires. Farming equipment, too, has changed with larger equipment used. Also traffic patterns have changed dramatically. In 1995, when the Rural Road Master Plan was initially adopted Strathcona County's population was around 62,000. Upgrader projects had not begun and traffic in the rural areas was substantially less.
A snapshot was taken and roads that were surfaced in cold mix remained that way and those that were gravel stayed gravelled. Over the years, more adjustments were made to the plan some resulting in savings over the long run and others that identified variables such as traffic count. Even with the recognition that some roads fit the newer criteria to switch from gravel to cold mix profiles, those roads required significant upgrades and dollars were not available.
If you don't live on a gravel road, you may not even realize Strathcona has 368 kilometres of gravel roads and many more kilometres of roads that do not meet current engineering standards.
I cannot stress how important the comments you make today will shape the decisions of tomorrow. Open houses will be held mid-October to present the results of the questionnaire and preliminary recommendations for further feedback.
Just as the current plan formed the base of decisions over the past 14 years, this plan will no doubt be held up as the reason for determining tomorrow's decisions.
The return of your questionnaire is vital to this process. Please do your part to make it known that the rural roads are a priority.
Jacquie Fenske
Councillor, Ward 5
780-464-8147
fenske@strathcona.ab.ca.
Last updated: Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Page ID: 2033