Mountain View County councillors have received a report on the Tour of Alberta cycling race. Stage 2 of the tour took place in the region on Sept. 2.
The report was prepared by administration at the instruction of council.
“The total cost of the event was approximately $60,000 -- $15,000 each from the county and the Town of Olds, and $10,000 from Olds College and Olds Institute and the remainder came from private sponsor, services, etc,” the report states.
“The county and town would be hard pressed to receive a similar amount of exposure as the tour brought to the region for a budget of that amount.
“As a legacy of the tour, the county received a great new commercial showcasing what the county has to offer, which now lives on the county's YouTube page.”
There were some public complaints regarding delays of cross-route traffic, council heard.
In the report, comments from peace officers included the following: “Visibility was such that we could have easily let vehicles cross the route until cycle or caravan vehicles were in sight. At my checkpoint, many vehicles were stuck as much as 15 minutes before the first bike arrived.
“Many were good natured about it, but some, including loaded school buses and several other residents were distinctly unimpressed.”
Mountain View County reeve Bruce Beattie said the event was good for the municipality.
“From the county's perspective we did benefit,” said Beattie.
Councillors accepted the report for information.
