He’s not exactly surprised that Tsuu T’ina band members voted against the southwest leg of the province’s ring road proposal.
In fact, longtime Lakeview resident Bill Holt just chuckled.
“I always said this ring road wouldn’t be built in my lifetime. They could give them twice as much land and they still wouldn’t be happy, because all we’re doing is giving them some land that already belongs to them.”
Just over 60 per cent of eligible Tsuu T’ina band members voted against the ring road proposal, which would have created a major artery to move traffic north and south between Glenmore Trail and Anderson Road, potentially easing congestion on already existing routes.
Meanwhile, the province has been caught without so much as a backup plan to replace the freshly rejected proposal, says Alberta Transportation spokesperson, Trent Bancarz, adding that the province plans to start looking at viable alternatives to the city’s traffic woes.
Ward 11 Ald. Brian Pincott, however, suggested the city would have to step up efforts to produce a viable alternative for commuters, instead of relying on the province.
“At this point, we need to look to the future and how we deal with the city of Calgary instead of relying on a 40-year-old idea, which is what the ring road was,” he argued, hinting at the possibility of a commuter system with links to the LRT.
