OLDS — On Sept. 12, town council ratified an initial decision to take $70,000 originally earmarked for walking trail expansion and use that money instead primarily to patch a piece of 57th Avenue, north of the hospital.
That proposal first came up for decision during council’s policies and priorities meeting on Sept. 6. Council deferred the matter to the Sept. 12 meeting for a final decision.
Chief administrative officer Brent Williams said a project to revamp a bumpy section of 57th Avenue just north of the hospital and Seasons Encore came in way higher than anticipated (about $200,000 instead of the $95,000 budgeted) so the project was dropped.
In the meantime, it became clear that contractors were not likely to complete all the paving projects planned this season, including a proposed trail extension which would go from Duncan Place to a pond in the Highlands.
So Williams suggested taking the $70,000 earmarked for the trail extension project and using it to largely repair the bumpy patch on 57th Avenue, which has been a problem for years.
That would involve digging out clay that’s believed to be the problem, refilling the hole with new clay and then packing down gravel.
The patch wouldn’t be paved this year because clay tends to settle, so the Town would like to wait until next year before paving it.
Coun. Heather Ryan expressed concern that over the winter, "big ruts” will be created in that area because lots of big trucks travel down that avenue.
Williams conceded ruts will likely be created because over time, gravel will “punch out.” However, he said, “there's no way around that."
Coun. Dan Daley worried that dust might be created in the area.
"Ideally the patch would be small enough that dust would be minimal. But it is a concern, and come spring time we’ll have to look at that,” Williams said.
Coun. James Cummings noted that the Town of Olds has qualified for a $50,000 federal grant to study its trail system with a view to making it more accessible and connective to points of interest and importance.
Earlier in the Sept. 12 meeting, council had voted to have Williams sign the necessary paperwork for that on its behalf. The study is expected to begin next month and be completed next February.
Cummings described the trail assessment as “a fortuitous event in reality.”
“I know that one of the conversations we’ve had around the table is how many citizens want to have more trails, want to have more accessible trails.
“The reality is we definitely need to have more roads, more road repair done as our roads crumble.
“And this is a perfect example of how our road is visibly crumbling under our feet,” he said in reference to the 57th Avenue bumpy patch.
A motion to reallocate the money originally earmarked for the trail extension to street repair, including the 57th Avenue patch passed easily.
