After getting briefly worse due to train maintenance, traffic in Cochrane could soon get better, but drivers won't see the end of major road improvements likely until 2024.
Nathaniel Carter, a student at Bow Valley High School, said he is stuck nose-to-tail with other drivers for at least 20 minutes traveling home on Highway 22 at the end of the school day, in what should be a much shorter drive.
"There's some days where it's manageable but you have to get on the road at the right time otherwise it's literally appalling trying to go anywhere," he said. "Usually driving to and from school is pretty bad, especially coming home at the end of the school day."
Although he understands some things have to get worse before they get better on the traffic end, Carter said the thought of the town being stuck in an "in-between stage" for the next while is not pleasant. With major projects underway set to begin, like the Highway 1A upgrades and Highway 22/1A interchange, Cochrane will likely continue to see traffic delays for at least the next two years.
Gordon Stewart, Town of Cochrane interim director of infrastructure and operations services said that progress on the Highway 1A project, which has been a contributor to traffic congestion, has been "coming along really well."
The Highway 1A improvements include widening the corridor of two lanes from east of Centre Avenue to west of Fifth Avenue to four lanes, a realignment of Fourth Avenue to Fifth Avenue, new access, parking and turning lanes for Sixth Ave W businesses and an improved pedestrian network with a new sidewalk and paved multi-use pathway.
"We will have the intersection at Centre Avenue and Highway 1A completed this year and then we'll have four lanes to the east of that, up the hill," Stewart said. "To the west of that, we will narrow down to two lanes, west of Centre Avenue. Then that will continue west and then we'll be working on that section of the highway next year."
Stewart said that from his perspective, improvements to traffic flow are not far off as construction works its way down the busy corridor.
"I think we'll definitely see an improvement once that is done because the intersection will be completed, so that will ease the movement into Centre Avenue, and then we will have two southbound lanes and one northbound lane on Centre completed this year, so that will certainly provide an improvement for the the traveling public."
Cheryl Minkoff, who has only been living in Cochrane for about three months, said that she has lived in places where the traffic is much worse.
"Honestly, they're working on it," she said. "It's gonna take some time but it's actually not that bad. Construction seems really organized. I understand people aren't used to it and they're impatient but it's something that needs to be done."
Stewart said that the prevailing concern from the public was over being stuck behind motorists turning left at the bottom of the 1A hill, something which the project team has since addressed by opening up another lane to allow both left-turning and straight-through traffic.
This past week, drivers were impacted significantly while CP was completing routine maintenance to the tracks around town, slowing train engines to 20 mph while the track was being surfaced, according to a CP Rail spokesperson.
"We have a good working relationship with CP, particularly on projects where we have joint interest," Stewart said. "The operation of the railway though is really sort of federally regulated. It's basically controlled by the railway and they kind of do their own thing."
Stewart said he encourages Cochranites who have become frustrated with the traffic, whether it's due to construction or trains, or both, to look at the bigger picture. Construction is a short-term pain for a long-term gain.
"I know that traffic movement has been a very high priority for town council and that's really starting to show up now with the 1A work that is happening and will continue to happen," he said. "Now we're working very cooperatively with the province on the interchange of the Highway 22/1A, and we just saw a copy of the transportation department's work scheduling for next year and we're on the list, so things are moving in the right direction."
Stewart said that while the province has not yet established a firm date for when they will start working on the interchange, the province is still on course for next spring.
