The Erin Ridge Residents’ Action Committee isn’t going to let attention wander from the community’s traffic problems.
This past weekend, members of the committee were handing out about 1,400 leaflets to their fellow residents, countering a recent mail-out from the city about the school site allocation issue, which include a letter from the city manager and a question and answer sheet.
“His questions for the most part were irrelevant,” said committee member Murray Lambert.
The committee was struck out of a core of residents who were part of the larger group raising awareness – and objecting to the school site’s potential traffic impacts – in recent weeks.
“It’s basically a bunch of concerned Erin Ridge residents that have been following this issue not only for months but years,” said Tom Tilley, another committee member.
Tilley, Lambert and Kathy Van Hoof met with the Gazette to discuss the group. They said while it’d be nice if the school site was moved, and still think there are better options for the francophone school, what they’re trying to do now is keep the city focused on what they believe is the real issue in Erin Ridge: traffic.
“It’s not really about the school … it’s about the traffic,” Van Hoof said.
Tilley, who lives on a corner lot alongside Erin Ridge Drive, said he’s lost a portion of his fence and a few trees to drivers along the road, as well as had people park on his lawn.
“We live it, we breathe it every day and we’re not being heard,” he said of the traffic problems.
Part of the group’s other goal is to make sure Erin Ridge residents have a say in decisions that impact their community.
“I’d like the action committee to be able to say that we have been able to have a voice. Right now we have none,” Tilley said.
Van Hoof noted attending council meetings was eye-opening. The group is concerned about the process the site allocation went through, where non-elected officials selected the site, and the lack of a municipal planning commission. “We need a little bit more accountability,” Van Hoof said.
Tilley said other communities in St. Albert are impacted by the civic processes in place. “We’re not getting middle ground. It’s always about the developer,” Tilley said.
City manager Patrick Draper said the letter and question and answer sheet were written in response to a request from council for Draper to follow up on resident questions brought forward to council by Coun. Malcolm Parker in August.
“Council had asked me to send a letter to about 500 residents in Erin Ridge,” Draper said.
Draper said he’s received two emails in response to the letter so far.
Concerns about traffic in the Erin Ridge neighbourhood will be looked at after the traffic impact study which has been commissioned by the city in partnership with the provincial government, Sturgeon Community Hospital and the francophone school board comes back, Draper said. The study’s expected to be completed in November or December but he’s not sure when it will be made public. Outreach efforts about the study, including possible public information sessions, will be made, he said.
The study will offer hard numbers regarding traffic counts in the neighbourhood and allow the city to determine which mitigation solutions should be put in place. “I don’t think the numbers are going to come back saying the status quo is acceptable,” Draper said.
