Members of Penhold's town council met with the provincial minister of transportation during the recent Alberta Urban Municipalities Association to discuss traffic concerns in the town.
Mayor Dennis Cooper said this is the first time the Town of Penhold councillors have ever met with the Alberta Minister of Transportation during the convention held the last week of September.
The issues they tackled were a request to lower the speed on Highway 42 from the Highway 2A turnoff to the Waskasoo Avenue intersection, traffic calming on Highway 2A through the town, drainage issues and funds for the water treatment facility upgrades.
“He was receptive,” Cooper said of Ric McIver's response to the issue of the speed jumping to 100 km/h on Highway 42 after the Highway 2A turnoff.
As for traffic calming, Cooper said they ended up suggesting a traffic safety study of Highway 2A.
“We have seen pretty excessive speeds,” he said. “(The minister) didn't want any humps or bumps or curves.”
The ongoing drainage issues in the town were partly caused by highway construction changing the watercourse Cooper said, and council approached the minister about addressing the issue.
“They have to do something to solve our water problem,” he said. “What we're asking him to do is correct the watercourse.”
He said they showed the minister charts of the original watercourse and that the minister was surprised by that information.
The fourth and final topic of conversation was a request for Penhold to be considered a priority for grant money to upgrade the water treatment facility, originally built in 1980.
“It's starting to show its age,” Cooper said. The upgrades are needed to help reach new standards that are coming down the pipe for water treatment.
“That's a big ticket item,” he said.
Council will be following up on the meeting by writing the minister a letter.
Parker Hogan, press secretary for the minister, said McIver met with several different councils throughout the convention.
Hogan said in the case of the water treatment upgrades, it's been evaluated but added there are “usually more asks than there are dollars available.”
The drainage issues are being examined but he said there isn't much the ministry can do at this time but some ditch work. He said there's some work the town needs to do outside of the highway rights of way.
As for traffic calming on Highway 2A and the speed on Highway 42, he said they'll continue to monitor development in the town and see if it's appropriate to re-examine the situation.
