January will be quite a month in Cochrane when it comes to openings.
The Town of Cochrane announced that the Centre Ave. extension over the railway tracks is anticipated to open during the week of Jan. 20 – something every Cochranite who drives hopes will have a positive effect on traffic flow.
At the same time, the section of 4th Ave. that stretches over the tracks will close, eliminating the segment of the road from Railway to Main St.
This closure will likely inconvenience some, at least for a period of time until motorists get used to it, but with the second January opening – the Cochrane Wal-Mart – it goes without saying that Centre Ave. will have to manage a larger traffic volume.
Stores on the Quarry site are popping up like summer dandelions, with a Tim Hortons, The Source, Original Joe’s, Booster Juice, Cochrane Family Vision (in the coming days) and, of course, Sobeys and Sobeys Liquor all open for business.
Soon, Cochrane residents will see a Papa John’s Pizza, Pet Valu, SportChek, Chatters and several other businesses welcoming customers, so vehicle and pedestrian traffic through the area will likely become heavy, much heavier than 4th Ave.
Cochrane will also see a new fitness centre open next to Mark’s No Frills. GoodLife Fitness is hoping to open with a bang Jan. 22, and is working with the Cochrane Eagle to giveaway two, 6-month memberships. People can enter on the Eagle’s website, cochraneeagle.com, from Jan. 9-17.
An optimist would look at January and say that Cochrane will soon have better traffic flow, more affordable shopping options within the community and an additional fitness location to stay active.
The pessimist, however, would say that Cochrane’s traffic issues will not change because we are simply swapping one rail crossing for another, the big-box giant known as Wal-Mart will only hurt local businesses and GoodLife will essentially do the same to the already-existing fitness facilities.
Whether Cochranites would describe these two types as optimists, pessimists, or something different, like realist or idealist, is debatable, but there’s no doubt that in a passionate community like Cochrane, there will be those on both sides.
Question is, which side do you fall on?
