OLDS — Protective services director Justin Andrew says his department is working with the planning department to make sure roads are designed or revamped to accommodate increased traffic once higher-density housing is built in the Miller Meadows subdivision.
Andrews made that statement during an interview with the Albertan.
In late June, town council approved an amendment to the Miller Meadows Area Structure Plan and an amendment to the land use bylaw allowing for higher-density housing in the area.
The 40-acre parcel of land is located off 57th Avenue, bordered by 60th Street and 53rd Avenue.
Among other concerns, opponents of the decision feared the development will result in more traffic. They said traffic is already often high and dangerous along 57th Avenue.
Councillors said they heard and understood opponents’ concerns, but they said the need for affordable housing in the community is too great and they have a developer willing to address that need.
They said concerns expressed by opponents of the move can be addressed as the planning process goes forward.
“Undeniably, when you add a new subdivision or residential development into a town, it has an impact on traffic flows for sure," Andrew said.
“And so without a doubt, there will be increased traffic in and out of that Miller Meadows area.
“That is part of the planning and development process, where the planning development staff work with the developers and municipal enforcement and law enforcement to plan for that, by ensuring that roadways are built to a wide enough standard to facilitate (that traffic).
“It's one of those things that, change happens, and we need the housing and we need to accommodate more people wanting to come.
“Making bigger and better roads and traffic management is definitely a priority for the town going forward.”
Andrew said examples of design components to deal with increased traffic could include stop signs, traffic circles or traffic lights.
He indicated there are already traffic and infrastructure issues in the community that are the result of planning decisions taken 50 to 100 years ago.
“If we could wipe the slate clean of how the town's road network is currently and start again, we absolutely would, because there are definitely things that could have been planned better and done differently,” Andrew said.
“Today we see problems that arise and so that's the hard part about what we do, is we have to live with the infrastructure we have.”
He pointed out that 57th Avenue is wider than some arteries in town because planners anticipated that it would become a major north-south collector for traffic.
Andrew said he understands that traffic noise and congestion is annoying and frustrating for residents that live along certain major arteries in town, but that’s an unfortunate fact of life.
“When you're picking your house, you do have to, you know, take that in in mind for sure,” he said.
“I remember growing up in this town where at one point we lived in Balsam Crescent. And from our front window, we could see the mountains, and that was amazing. It was great. And it was very quiet,” Andrew said.
“Well, you know, a few years later, there were houses everywhere, and it was a busy crescent. And there's lots of people there. That's just the evolution of growth unfortunately.”
