A two-year old petition urging city officials to re-examine another bridge crossing is again gaining momentum.
City council hopeful Zachary Gibb discusses the Bridge Crossing petition in Indian Batlle Park Tuesday afternoon.
Lethbridge entrepreneur Karl Airey has created an online petition urging Mayor Chris Spearman and Alberta Minister of Infrastructure Brian Mason to take action on the long-debated third bridge crossing.
Airey believes that the steady growth of our town demands an additional route for commuting residents.
Originally posted online in early 2015, the petition remained dormant for quite some time before being reignited on social media this past weekend. The petition now has over 2800 signatures.
ADVERTISEMENT
The revival of the petition comes in the wake of the university and college’s fall semesters commencing.
Airey hopes that gaining 5,000 signatures will garner enough attention from officials in charge of the developments to get the current bridge plan to move ahead more quickly than originally anticipated.
In November of 2009, a third bridge aptly named Chinook Trail River Crossing was officially endorsed by Lethbridge City Council. Planning to connect Scenic Drive with University Drive, this new crossing would provide additional routes for those people traveling from West to South Lethbridge.
Many of those who live on the west side travel across the bridge daily for work or school. Currently residents are faced with only 2 options. Crowsnest Trail and Whoop-Up Drive.
According to the official 2016 census, more than 40 per cent of Lethbridge residents live on the west side of the city. In 2006 west Lethbridge had a population of 27,000 residents. That number has since jumped to 38,000.
Earlier this year a $5 million preliminary study for design and environmental approvals was sanctioned by city council. The research is tentatively scheduled to begin in early 2025. Experts and officials will examine costs, logistics, environmental concerns and other pertinent factors before construction begins.
The bridge construction is temporarily slated to begin in 2032.
Lethbridge Resident Eric Martin believes that there are more important things than the third river crossing for the community to be focused on.
“Rather than petitioning for a third bridge, we should be petitioning for a proper council that should have allocated funds for it by now. What we need is proper management,” said Martin.
Martin says that the key to bettering our city lies in tighter control over city budgets and reduced spending by council members.
The outspoken Lethbian believes that the costs associated with the additional crossing will have a negative effect on taxpayers.
“Things become a little more complex when the city has to fork out reasonable money for a section of private property. And that becomes expensive. Expensive means more taxes. We get taxed enough as it is,” said Martin.
City Council hopeful Zachary Gibb has his eyes carefully fixed on the crossings benefits to the whole community of Lethbridge.
A two-year-old petition urging city officials to re-examine another bridge crossing is again gaining momentum.
“The additional crossing will help to keep our city growing and vibrant. It will really help to make us that go-to city for visitors and residents,” said Gibb.
As a supporter of the Chinook Trail Crossing, Gibb says the circulating petition should garner attention to the cause, but may not speed up the process.
“At this point, the bridge is happening. It is just a matter of when. I do think that the more people that sign the petition the more city council sees this as a priority. However, we don’t want to rush this process. We want to follow all safety precautions carefully,” said Gibb.
The civically-minded candidate recognized that while Whoop Up Drive and Crowsnest trail are vital to Lethbridge’s functionality, they may be pushed beyond capacity soon.
“As we approach 100,000 residents, the roads sometimes experience a back log of traffic during peak hours. When accidents happen, traffic flow is severely affected and in some cases, stops altogether. We cannot afford to have almost half of our city trapped in emergency situations,” said Gibb.
Recognizing that Lethbridge’s population continues to steadily increase and infrastructure is thriving Gibb believes that it is up to the public to continue pushing for a third crossing to be a priority for city council.
Gibb believes circulating petitions such as this help to keep hot button topics at the forefront of the city’s plans and go a long way in moving issues forward.
Lethbridge Mayor Chris Spearman took to his personal social media account to provide
his take on the matter.
“Just so everyone fully understands the issue. A series of provincial governments have taken the position that another bridge across the river will be a local improvement, therefore must be entirely paid for by local taxes. The estimated cost is $200 million which is a 14 per cent tax increase, just to build the bridge. Traffic on existing bridges is not overwhelming. Nothing like traffic in Calgary or Edmonton. Traffic most days crosses the river valley in less than 2 minutes.”
The resurge of the chatter surrounding Chinook Trail River Crossing does not appear to be slowing as more conversations pop up online every day.
At this time, no official statement has been made by the Lethbridge City council or the Alberta Minister of Infrastructure in regards to this matter.
