Dear editor:
I read the Eagle’s article last week about the single exit out of Sunset Ridge.
Great article, and thanks for highlighting this issue — it is a great concern for many of us living in the area.
We laughed out loud when we saw the Town of Cochrane’s replies to the Eagle’s questions, though. The lower end of what they refer to as the “south emergency exit” (which is just an old beat up dirt road) is blocked by huge boulders. Huge cement barriers and a 30-cm tall cement ridge block the “north emergency exit.”
In either case, heavy machinery would need to be brought in to move the barriers before anybody could get out, or an emergency vehicle could get in. It’s hardly an “open in case of emergency” proposition. We really do not currently have an actual emergency exit, in the logical sense of the word.
This is typical governmental response in the form of a denial, and adds credence to the belief that land developers are still in charge of Cochrane, and not town council.
In the days leading up to the closure of Ranche Road, the town displayed a sign on Ranche Road itself, saying that it was going to be permanently closed. I’m hoping that this event may convince them to reassess that decision.
Then again, the planners must be thinking, what could possibly go wrong...what are the chances that something like a fuel tanker would explode right at the only exit, and also set off a grassfire towards the neighbourhood, right?
John Rouette
