There has been some debate among residents in our community lately about whether efforts should be made to curtail growth in Cochrane. My opinion is a moratorium on growth would only exacerbate problems that already exist related to infrastructure and services needed by residents.
Cochrane’s most pressing problem is growing traffic congestion. Let’s first identify where the traffic is coming from. The root of the problem is the growth in the greater Calgary area and to an extent the province in general. Without these external population pressures, Highway 22 and 1A could handle the traffic generated by a town of 23,000 and possibly a population of twice that number.
We have all suffered the traffic backups that an accident on the Trans-Canada Highway can have on Cochrane, a town that is not even on the Trans-Canada. For any of you who enjoy the mountain parks, Kananaskis, or Banff, you may have noticed that finding a parking spot at any of the trail heads or picnic areas in these parks can be harder than finding a parking spot in downtown Calgary on a business day. In essence, we once viewed our mountain parks as wilderness areas and now they resemble urban parks.
The point I am making is: a moratorium on growth within Cochrane will have a constraining effect on our taxes, on our ability to provide a new and much needed bridge, recreation facilities, playing fields and parks for Cochrane’s residents, without having any meaningful effect on the traffic, or on the highways going through Cochrane.
Controlling growth and highway infrastructure outside Cochrane’s borders is a provincial matter and council is very engaged in lobbying the provincial government to bring about movement on matters that impact Cochrane. What we can do as a town is construct a second bridge across the Bow River, provide medical, recreational and commercial opportunities within Cochrane so that residents can enjoy a quality lifestyle right here at home, without having to drive to another community.
A moratorium on growth would leave Cochrane without the tax base to provide for ourselves the services and recreational facilities we want in Cochrane, and we would still have the problems generated by the growth on our borders. I would choose to be proactive and be the masters of our own destiny, build the town we want rather than closing our doors and hoping that the problems surrounding us will go away.
