Crews are out today marking trees and paving the way for the advancement of the Hwy 1A /22 interchange project.

Yesterday, town officials announced that after the completion of a land survey on Wednesday, February 23 it was determined that about 20 trees will need to be removed.

Since then, many residents have voiced concern over preserving and protecting our ecosystems and natural spaces. 

Director of Engineering and Asset Management for the Town of Cochrane, Pinky de la Cruz acknowledges the importance of protecting as many trees as possible at the project site. 

"We know it's very important for the community to protect those trees so we tried to make sure that only the trees that need to be cut will be cut," explains de la Cruz.  "Unfortunately we do have to remove some, to be able to expand the highway to four lanes." 

According to de la Cruz, the Town is taking all environmental factors into account. Still, she says that in order to have the necessary infrastructure in place to sustain Cochrane's growth, a portion needs to be cleared.

"The town has been growing significantly in the last few years," explains de la Cruz. "We need to be able to provide good infrastructure to improve traffic flow, really accommodate our existing mobility objectives and for us to be able to also accommodate future growth."

She says that they have already started marking the trees that stand in the way of future advancement, and only those trees located south of the fencing area in front of Ranche Park will be removed.

"There's going to be about 20 trees, so in the whole scheme of things, that's a small portion," explains de la Cruz. "There's going to be a significant canopy that's going to be left behind."

It's day one of clearing, and according to de la Cruz, they anticipate that this portion will wrap up by mid-week. She says that the crews will be working "within the noise bylaw hours" to ensure minimal disruption to the public.