Chamber president urges secondary corridor conversation

The Town of Sundre must sooner rather than later open a dialogue with the provincial government regarding future plans for a secondary high load corridor to accommodate industrial traffic.

Mike Beukeboom, the president of the Sundre and District Chamber of Commerce, addressed council during the Dec. 4 meeting, when he urged elected officials to lobby the province or run the risk of being left out of the eventual planning process.

Calgary's population is expected to double to more than two million within the next 30 years, and Sundre today already has about seven million vehicles coming through every year, he said.

"If Calgary and area doubles in size, what will that mean to this town? We really truly believe it's time to have a conversation about a second bridge for this community," he said, adding the chamber has raised the matter through correspondence with the provincial government.

"The conversation will be about providing better infrastructure for the provincial high load corridorÖif we steer or have this conversation, we can best decide what will work for our community, especially the industrial southwest," he said.

"Some day a second bridge will come. But I'd hate to be sitting around and the province shows up and says, ëguess what, that second bridge is going to be 20 kilometres away'."

A second bridge should serve equally the Town of Sundre as well as the province, he said.

"It is time to have a larger conversation with the province of Alberta, one where we request that the province have a regional development plan for Sundre and area."

The new Main Avenue roundabouts have so far served their intended purpose of slowing traffic down and establishing a safe buffer space between pedestrians and vehicles, but plans for a future alternate route for heavy trucks must start as soon as possible, he said.

Leading up to his proposal, the chamber president also provided a presentation outlining an update on the chamber's year to date.

"It has been a very busy year for us," he said, adding the Visitor Information Centre had as of last week reached roughly 5,200 guests.

"That is another brand new record again this year ó three years in a row. Last year we got up to a total of 4,600, so we're looking at a 13 per cent increase."

The municipality's Explore Sundre marketing campaign has contributed to that success in a significant way, he told council.

Additionally, progress on the chamber's educational boardwalk project is coming along. Conversations with Treaty 7 tribes have begun to ensure that this part of the process of seeking and obtaining approvals follows all due diligence, he said.

"We want full blessing from our indigenous leaders on this project."

Also, the chamber's main annual events ó the Explore Sundre Adventure and Home Expo, the Sundre and Area Business Awards and most recently Sundown in Sundre ó have all been successful and showing growth, he said.

"We're still gathering information about Sundown in Sundre. Downtown, I've heard nothing but good reviews from a lot of businesses, so we're thrilled about that," he said, adding that while the Christmas Bazaar at the Sundre Community Centre was not quite as busy, traffic at the Sundre Pioneer Museum seemed to have increased this year.

He also praised council's recent decision to dissolve the municipal planning commission.

"This is a monumental moment for the business community," he said, adding Sundre had previously been losing its small-town advantage over burdensome regulations that bogged down applications for requests as simple as sign permits.

"We're thrilled that this change has happened. It's very much a step in the right directionÖI think we're going to start to reap the benefit of that."