During the 2013 floods, some residents of West Bragg Creek and the nearby Wintergreen subdivision, with no other secondary access road to get out, found themselves trapped on one side of the Elbow River, as rising flood waters prompted closure of the Balsam Avenue bridge.
The incident led to calls for Rocky View County (RVC) to rectify the situation by putting renewed emphasis on coming to some kind of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with neighbouring Tsuu T’ina Nation to construct the much-needed secondary access road. In 2016, Rocky View County commissioned its “West Bragg Creek Emergency Access Study” to identify potential routes.
However, not much has happened in the seven years since, as RVC has not been able to come to any kind of cost-sharing agreement or MOU with Tsuu T’ina to go forward with the preferred route identified in the study.
RVC's director of operations Riemann admitted during the May 23 council meeting a lot of the failure had to do with the projected cost of such a project, which could be anywhere in the $10-15 million range.
“We are talking steep terrain and very limited geographic options in that area of the (preferred) route that was selected,” he told councillors. “That’s why the costs were that high.”
With negotiation stalled, Division 1 Coun. Kevin Hanson and Deputy Reeve Sunny Samra felt RVC must start rethinking its approach to the issue. They co-sponsored a motion to direct administration to prepare a report, for presentation to the Governance Committee before the end of September 2023, on the Bragg Creek Secondary Access project, “outlining the identified access/egress routes, the status of the project, and potential options for the Committee’s consideration to advance this project in a timely manner.”
Their motion was unanimously supported by council.
