Summer roadwork within the town of Cochrane began yesterday (June 24) and will run through early August.
The focal areas for the ‘2015 Streets Improvement Project’ (SIP) include:
-Glenbow Drive from Fifth Avenue to Hwy 22
-Railway Street from Nan Boothby Library to Charlesworth Avenue
-Fifth Avenue from Griffin Road to CP Railway tracks
-Benchlands Drive and Benchlands Place; Powell Street between Ross and Pope Avenues (overlay only; continuation of 2013 SIP)
The work that will be done includes removing asphalt (milling); removing and replacing deficient concrete (sidewalks, curbs and gutters); new asphalt paving; and road painting (implementing bike lanes on Glenbow Drive and Railway Street).
“These two streets (Glenbow Drive and Railway Street) were analyzed for bike lanes because we were upgrading the surface and implementing other modes of transportation is one of our sustainability goals moving forward,” explained Wally Hume, roads manager for the Town of Cochrane.
“After further investigation it was determined separate bikes lanes could be included on Glenbow Drive and shared bike lanes on Railway Street. Fifth Avenue was not wide enough to accommodate bike lanes. We will look at other arterial roads for good candidates moving forward.”
The town does not anticipate any of the roadwork to result in reduction of lanes to single-lane traffic; they foresee being able to accommodate two lanes of traffic in all construction areas throughout the duration of construction.
The 2015 SIP is funded from provincial grants ($1.825M) and $400,000 from the town’s road reserve; this was approved as part of the 2015 budget.
It was reported to the Eagle that parking issues for the employees of commercial businesses along Charlesworth Avenue had erupted, due to no parking signs placed along the west side of the street.
According to Hume, a landscaping company working in the Quarry put up these signs, which are now gone.
This had nothing to do with the town’s roadwork project.
