A Facebook page was created late last month to express concerns about the possible closure of the road adjacent to Sundre High School.
Kurt Sacher, Chinook's Edge School Division superintendent of schools sent a letter out to parents of students attending the high school and River Valley school late January.
The letter was to inform the parents that Chinook's Edge officials would be performing a test run during the first week of February, before finalizing the closure.
The test run was to have all the buses use the ìbus turnaroundî for that week and not the road, to see how it would go over.
Joanna McKenzie, creator of the Facebook page, said the issue involves more than just the parents.
ìI felt this was an issue that involved west side and Center Street residents, rodeo ground users, football and soccer teams,î said McKenzie.
ìFacebook is a good avenue to connect with a lot of people quickly; within a few hours there was over 280 people in the group,î she said.
As a parent who received the letter, she immediately sent an email to the high school.
She was encouraged by people in the community to ìtake it furtherî, which lead her to launch the Facebook page, she said.
The letter that was sent out last month, states that the road is proposed to be closed because of safety concerns and that Chinook's Edge officials would like to have it closed by spring.
Allan Tarnoczi, associate superintendent of Chinook's Edge said the roadway was never meant to be used as one, but as a utility right-of-way in its original state.
People within the community documented changes they noticed during the test run, to send to Chinook's Edge, said McKenzie.
Described in the document was that people had difficulties in making turns on that block, buses were making unsafe U-turns and high school teachers were walking elementary students across the street to ensure their safety, she said.
Also, she said people observed that bus drivers weren't waiting for oncoming traffic to pass or looking for pedestrians while making the U-turns.
ìMany people, including buses, have come to rely on that road to quickly and easily bypass the already high traffic volumes on Center Street at 8:15 a.m. and 3:15 p.m.,î she explained.
ìA left from 2nd onto Centre is horrendous and at 3:15 p.m., even a right turn is outrageous,î she said.
The intent of the Facebook page is to collect feedback from fellow users of the road and to brainstorm ideas of how they could fight to keep the road open, she said.
ìThe traffic is already a nightmare. This would only add to that, increasing the probability of accidents involving students,î she said.
ìIt's not just a school issue, it's a community issue.î
