The search for a permanent solution to the safety hazard at the easternmost edge of the Banff Legacy Trail is moving forward after Wild Rose MP Blake Richards brought representatives from local municipalities and the provincial government together, Monday (July 4).
The major challenge at this point is solving the problem created by the abrupt ending of the Legacy Trail as many users park in the centre median near the Banff Park east gate and cross eastbound lanes of the Trans-Canada Highway to access the trail.
Mayors Ron Casey and Karen Sorensen, MD of Bighorn Reeve Dene Cooper, Banff-Cochrane MLA Janis Tarchuk, Minister of Tourism, Parks and Recreation Cindy Ady and representatives of Parks Canada and Alberta Transportation all met in Canmore on July 4 to begin working through the issues associated with the safety hazard.
“We all agree we need to come up with an interim solution as quickly as possible and we all agree we need to come up with a long-term solution. We’ve got some work to do in the next few weeks,” Richards said, “but we’re hoping we’ll be able to come forward with some concrete actions.
“This is the reason why I called this meeting. I always find when you get everyone in the room you have to talk through the issues. There was some frank discussion.”
Work is proceeding on extending the Legacy Trail from the east gate to the Harvie Heights overpass, but momentum to find a permanent route to get trail users safely across the Trans-Canada Highway had stalled.
Alberta Transportation has given permission to establish a temporary bike lane by putting concrete barriers on the Harvie Heights overpass, but the provincial agency does not want that to become a permanent solution.
As the Legacy Trail ends in the MD of Bighorn, the MD was asked to take on financial responsibility for a stand-alone pedestrian bridge built alongside the Harvie Heights overpass.
However, according to MD Reeve Dene Cooper, Bighorn council voted unanimously against owning a bridge that would come with a high price tag for maintenance and eventually replacement.
“I’m against the MD of Bighorn becoming responsible for a trail we can’t afford and becoming responsible for a safety problem in one location transported to another location. I will be part of their solution if they are part of mine,” Cooper said.
While the municipalities and government representatives work towards a permanent and safe solution, the other challenge the Legacy Trail has created is that once formally connected to the Legacy Trail, a new safety hazard will emerge as the Harvie Heights trail was not built for the volume the Legacy Trail experiences.
For example, on Saturday and Sunday, May 21-22, the infrared sensors on the Banff Legacy Trail at the Banff National Park East Gate registered 881 and 812 hits, respectively.
Cooper pointed out 14 driveways and roads cross the Harvie Heights trail with potentially seven more when the Harvie Heights strip gets built out.
“The trail was meant as a terminus trail to take people to Canmore. We can’t have 900 people a day with 21 egresses,” Cooper said.
From the MD’s perspective, the best proposal to remove the hazard of the numerous driveways crossing the Harvie Heights trail, Cooper said, is to move a portion of the trail to the south side of the Harvie Heights road from the overpass to the entrance from the TCH known as the “Birdcage”.
The trail could then cross the Harvie Heights road at the Birdcage where the speed limit is 50 km/h and rejoin the current paved trail on the north side of the road.
Cooper added that option would work best if the parking lot at Stoneworks Creek, located in Canmore Town boundaries, was paved and had bathrooms, picnic tables and a phone booth.
“There are negatives with the proposal I outlined; none of the proposals came forward that were so perfectly obvious,” Cooper said.
Another option is to explore continuing the trail along the south side of the TCH.
But while no decisions have been made, what is important, Richards said, is that the various representatives continue to work towards a solution.
To that end, the different organizations have homework to do with a two-week deadline before the next meeting, Richards said.
