An open house on Wednesday evening (June 14) saw roughly 40 community members in attendance.

Members of Melcor Developments, B and A Planning Group, as well as ISL Engineering were all present at the open house to discuss and preview an access proposition to the north end of Sunset Ridge.

Going back a number of years, Sunset Ridge Area Structure Plan (ASP) was divided into three stages and is currently in the second stage of construction which is expected to wrap up in the next 3-5 years. While no plans have been confirmed for Stage 3, a third access point into the community from Highway 22 is required to complete the Stage 3 lands.

With no definite plans for for Stage 3 and access being beyond Town of Cochrane limits, Melcor wanted to address some of the pressures felt by residents living within the community. Alan Boucher, Senior Development Manager of Melcor says the team of professionals has been working with Alberta Transportation to come up with an interim access plan for the north end. 

“Over the past couple years, we have heard from residents concerns related to the connectivity of the community and the desire for increased access options onto Highway 22, especially after the conversion of the Right In/Right Out access on the south side. It was our goal to find a win-win-win option between the Town of Cochrane, Rocky View County and Melcor to address these concerns.”

At the meeting a proposal was identified to the public that illustrated an interim intersection location that would include a fully paved all-turns access with acceleration and deceleration lanes. The interim access would increase safety for View Ridge residents accessing the highway, in addition to a third access option for Sunset Ridge. When development pressures indicated the need for the Ultimate Road (located within Rocky View County) then the interim access would be closed and Sunset Ridge residents would be routed to the north. The timing for this is unknown and undetermined at this time.   

The open house also allowed the opportunity for residents to share other concerns, not necessarily form a planning perspective, but issues that will be brought up to town administration and municipal enforcement.

Kathy Oberg, Managing Partner with B and Planning, shares they will make all efforts to not only address issues concerning the application but others as well. 

"We understand that there are concerns with speeding, noise, access within an emergency situation, peak time intersection light timing, school peak hour traffic, etc. and these will be presented in a summary to the Town.”

The information session is in advance of a formal application for Stage 3. Melcor anticipates a Neighbourhood Plan/Land Use submission to occur in the fall of 2017 with construction of the access occurring in late 2019/2020.

Residents can anticipate further public sessions on the proposal.