Recently there have been lots of letters and articles and social media posts about the rail line fencing, particularly about it being a waste of taxpayers money – $500,000 spent by the feds and $464,000 spent by St Albert, project cost being over original budget by 25 per cent, etc. However, the city justified it as a safety measure, so I thought I would go take an up-close look at the fence.
First, I noticed that at the south end ( LeClair and 137) it is only on the east side of the tracks, so any animals migrating from Lois Hole Park crossing the tracks are blocked and would have to cross back over the tracks DOUBLING their chance of being hit by a train.
At the north end of Grandin Woods Estates, visible from the curve on Sir Winston Churchill Ave., the fence stops 30 or 40 metres short of connecting to anything. This opening is in an area with lots of kids from Grandin Village who could easily gain access to the tracks via the gap.
Further north, there is no fence at all along the west side behind Pro Western Plastics. On a positive note, all along the side of Lions Park there is the new fence, it loops around and under the train trestle bridge, but on the west side of the bridge the fence only extends 30 or 40 metres, there is a big drive-through gate in the fence with NO lock on it but just past the unlocked gate the fence ends and there is a nice opening with a path straight up to the train tracks.
The worst part on the day I was there, there were six teenagers sitting up on the train bridge! Continuing north on the other side of the river, the fence is only a short length along Mission Ave., the vast majority is open along the walking path.
After close inspection (from a safe distance) it seems that the fence has so many gaps in it that it is almost useless, further evidenced by the kids up on the train bridge. Another interesting observation is there are no safety warning signs or no trespassing signs anywhere along the fence.
I have to agree with all the other comments that this looks to be a waste of tax payers dollars. At council, it was said that the fence was like a smoke detector to prevent a future potential accident. To me, this looks more like a smoke detector without a battery.
Maybe a better use of taxpayer dollars would have been to build a trail extension under the train bridge on the north side of the river to connect the trail system to the Meadowview ball diamonds and the new Riverside residents.
Mike Killick, St. Albert
