In the wake of a fatality on Stoney Trail and a “disappointing” information session by the ring road project crew, Foothills County is voicing its concerns over management of construction and road closures.
Around 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 21 a truck being driven by a 33-year-old man was travelling west on Stoney Trail S.W. near the overpass at James McKevitt Road S.W. and struck a vehicle being driven by a 48-year-old woman, who had turned left across the westbound lanes of Stoney Trail before completely merging. The truck hit the driver’s side of the vehicle.
A 72-year-old woman and 77-year-old man, passengers of the woman’s car, were declared dead at the scene and the driver was taken to hospital where she later succumbed to her injuries. The driver of the pickup truck was taken by ambulance to Foothills Hospital in serious but stable condition.
Foothills County Reeve Suzanne Oel said many residents of the area travel into Calgary via the Southwest Calgary Ring Road, or Stoney Trail S.W., and have experienced close calls, particularly in recent weeks.
“The Southwest Calgary Ring Road is on the forefront of everybody’s mind travelling from the northwest of the County into Calgary and how they’re going to find their way or make their way alive and unscathed,” said Oel.
She said the main reason for confusion and frustration is a lack of proper signage with lane and road closures through the construction zone, which is dotted with pylons that are sometimes askew or lying on the ground and not of much help in guiding motorists.
A number of complaints have been aired by area residents concerned about lane markings, signage and daily changes to routes that are unannounced, she said.
With a church and two schools in the midst of the confusion, she said the County has heard from many parents and residents, especially with winter driving on the horizon.
“They have contacted myself and Coun. (Alan) Alger, and our departments, in order to try to find a way for us to bring some influence over to Alberta Transportation or the Province as to how we’re going to rectify this situation before any other casualties take place,” said Oel.
Jeff Edgington, manager of infrastructure and engineering for Foothills County, said the municipality doesn’t have much influence concerning the operations of KGL Construction, which is building the ring road. In addition, all right-of-way belongs to the Alberta Transportation utility corridor, and the project is primarily a contract between the City of Calgary and KGL.
“When we look at this, we don’t really have a lot of say in how they run their operations within the construction zone,” said Edgington.
He said the best advice would be to encourage residents to call KGL and Alberta Transportation to voice their concern, and noted both contact numbers will be made available on the County website.
Alger said that’s not a strong enough response from the County.
“I think our residents are not looking for just ‘Call the contact number for KGL or Alberta Transportation,’ they want something more from us,” he said. “I don’t know if that’s a phone call from us or a strongly-worded letter to the minister (Alberta Transportation Minister Ric McIver), or what the next step would be, but in my world, it’s an embarrassment for me to just tell my residents to call Alberta Transportation.”
KGL Construction held an information session about its Southwest Calgary Ring Road project on Sept. 22, but Alger said company representatives failed to answer questions specific to the immediate issues around the Red Deer Lake area. He called the info session a “complete waste of time.”
“From the County’s standpoint, I don’t need to know about sound attenuation or what part of the north part of Stoney Trail is going to be opened,” said Alger. “We’re concerned about the south end and I was hoping it was going to be a bit more directed to that.”
He said the information session focused more on where the project stands than addressing concerns of residents, and his direct questions regarding the project in the Spruce Meadows area were not answered.
In addition, KGL reps were asked to comment on the Sept. 21 fatality but the response was that the collision was still under investigation, he said.
“It’s ludicrous,” said Alger. “We need some help on this.”
Coun. Jason Parker echoed his concerns, adding his wife travels that road to work from their Millarville-area home and passed by the accident while first responders were still on-scene. He said she had been shocked at the state of traffic along Stoney Trail that night.
“It was just cars everywhere because nobody knew where to go,” said Parker. “There were people in the medians and they were trapped in the medians because of all the traffic and they couldn’t get out because of how poorly posted it was.”
He said the ring road is a major, seven-year project and at this point the construction company and Alberta Transportation should have a better handle on proper signage for motorists navigating an often-confusing construction zone.
“We’ve lost lives now, so they really need to step up,” said Parker. “This is just unacceptable. This is our residents’ lives we’re dealing with.”
He implored residents and his fellow councillors to reach out to both KGL and the Province to raise the issue.
“They need to know en masse that we’re not going to stand for this, we’re not going to tolerate this,” said Parker.
KGL Construction chose not to comment at this time.
