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LETTER: Pathway would be improvement for community

Editor: This is in response to those who have decided to try to stop a key piece of improvement along the West Bow River pathway. My wife and I are avid cyclists who try to use this pathway as much as possible from the Homesteads to downtown to go to

Editor:

This is in response to those who have decided to try to stop a key piece of improvement along the West Bow River pathway. My wife and I are avid cyclists who try to use this pathway as much as possible from the Homesteads to downtown to go to appointments and get groceries.

I have been pushing for this pathway to be paved for some time now, along with a paved pathway into the Homesteads like other neighbourhoods in Canmore. This would allow the pathway to be plowed in winter because right now, walking or cycling can often be a dangerous undertaking when the paths are glaciated. These protesters clearly do not use the path in the winter.

Wouldn't it be horrible if those poor people had so many people walking and cycling on public property in front of their huge yards? I suggest that would be a major success for the Town because we know there is a certain developer who wants to double Canmore's population on the west side of the river. Does anyone actually think this won't create a car traffic nightmare going into downtown?

The protesters have pictures of elk on the pathway in front of their house in their expensive ad. Sorry, but the entire valley is used by wildlife – they walk down my paved street and yours too. They keep talking about lighting on the pathway, even though the Town denies such. Their petitions gather signatures from visitors who don't even live here. Do I have to start my own petition?

They talk about it being dangerous for children, pets, and walkers. Really? I watch kids on bikes in the winter go past my house to get on a steep hill known as Three Sisters Drive to go to school. There are no physical barriers from cars, many potholes/cracks, very poor plowing along the sides, and plenty of big trucks and buses. Is this safe? A wide pathway will provide safety.

This has been well studied around the world. If e-bikes are going too fast for your liking, complain to the Town, and there can be fines handed out like in Calgary. And yes, it’s going to cost money for the improvement. Just like the money it cost for all the other paved pathways in the Town that nobody complained about.

If it’s going to bother you to watch that many bikes and people going by your house, plant some spruce trees or shrubs on your property now. Change is going to happen.

Duane Kohut,

Canmore

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