The Cochrane urban planning geniuses are back at it again. This time it’s the connection of the new Jack Tennant Memorial bridge directly into the heart of suburbia and not out to highway 22 as originally promised.
Let’s get a second bridge across the Bow River they said, it’ll help with the traffic they said, it’ll ease frustration they said.
Not so when you do not connect the said bridge to a proper road. Instead, Cochrane in all their wisdom thought it best to connect the new Jack Tennant Memorial bridge exclusively to Riviera Way, a sleepy new community within Riversong. The original plans outlined a road that would lead directly out to highway 22 along with access into Riviera/Riversong.
When I asked a senior Cochrane official on July 2, 2020 when the new bridge will be properly connected to highway 22 his response was “...connection to Highway 22 is anticipated to be a future project that does not have a specific timeline at this time. It will really be dependent on the development of the Southbow Landing community which to date has not commenced.”
I live in the Riversong community and I’m all for the second bridge. But I am continually frustrated by Cochrane’s short-sightedness when tackling urban planning issues. Yes, it’s without a doubt cheaper to do something half-hearted and incorrect, but that is not what we need more of in Cochrane.
Adam D.
