Suzanne Oel – Division 4
Greetings! Sharing my News Update…
Residents & Visitors: We are blessed to be living in a beautiful place that both local residents and visitors want to enjoy. The NW of Foothills County continues to grow in popularity for recreational use, particularly cycling, but also includes touring routes of Highways 22, 549 and 762 and the County’s backroads. To add to the complexity of the inundation of the area and the Hamlet of Priddis being used as a staging area for cyclists, there are also group events approved by Alberta Transportation on Highways, that are going on at the same time as local community events and residential, business, agricultural and industrial uses. Highway 22 is also a major transportation corridor.
Popular Destination: Due to these multiple uses, the Hamlet of Priddis and surrounding area are experiencing impacts from the volume of traffic and some unfortunate behaviors, which have created tension, conflict and costs. Safety on roads is the primary concern. We want to avoid life-changing injuries or fatalities due to accidents or confrontations. Also, there’s not enough parking in the Hamlet of Priddis for all the users on busy days, which sees use from the Priddis Community Association members, Hall users, the Priddis Plaza customers and the influx of visitors. Other costs include maintenance of portable toilets, signage installation and problem management.
Priddis Area Cyclists & Parking Meeting: On October 22, 2024, Foothills County partnered with the Priddis Community Association (PCA) to host a public meeting to discuss the impacts to our community due to its increasing attraction as a touring and event destination. A guest panel included PCA representatives, Foothills County councillors, managers, bylaw officers and RCMP. Over 40 attendees included area residents, local cyclists, and cycling club representatives. Thank you to all who attended!
Key Comments Shared:
- Road safety concerns
- Experience of conflicts between cyclists, residents, motorists
- Hope to prevent accidents and losses
- Lack of space for parking in the Priddis area and for the many extra vehicles visiting the NW of Foothills
- Costs incurred by the community association because of cyclists visiting the community
- Costs/demands incurred by Foothills County and other agencies to manage the concerns from the increased volume of visitor and cyclist traffic
Solutions to be Explored before Next Cycling/Touring Season:
- Outreach and continued communication with cyclists (cyclist groups offered to help)
- Educational signage, messaging and engagement
- Inform/remind all travelers about the “Share the Road” campaign
- Consider installing more road signage
- Consider implementing paid parking for cyclists and/or setting up donation options to offset costs
- Consider adding parking options on municipal land within the Hamlet of Priddis to ease the strain on the community hall lot
- Inform visitors about an immediate parking solution on the north side (only) of west-bound 186 Ave W
- Continued support from Foothills County
What’s Next: Overall, residents and visitors noted safety as the highest priority. Many attendees, including cyclist groups, have offered to help turn this situation into something positive rather than implement heavy-handed enforcement. A wide variety of perspectives were welcomed at the meeting. Through this constructive communication, we have learned from each other and hope to navigate through the challenges to solutions with a friendly, safe outcome, for all, that could stand the test of time and change. We look forward to working with the cyclist groups and residents who have offered to help improve safety, parking and relations.
Parking Investigations: While more parking options are researched, the north side (only) of west-bound 186 Ave W is an immediate parking solution for the Hamlet of Priddis. Also, Foothills County owns municipal reserve (MR) land in Priddis, along Priddis Valley Road, which is currently used for Priddis community event parking. The County will explore the development of a trial-basis parking lot on the MR, including a needed approach for access onto Priddis Valley Road. The potential parking lot could be used for Priddis community events, for community members to access the MR land, and for trial-basis parking on busy days. Residents will be included in the process. More details on the “solutions list” soon…
For Other News & Updates:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/CouncillorSuzanneOel/
Email: Suzanne.Oel@FoothillsCountyAB.ca
With Best Regards,
Suzanne
