The City of Cold Lake is partnering up with Cold Lake First Nations to put pressure on the province to do something about Hwy. 28.
According to city CAO Kevin Nagoya, it was during a joint leadership meeting with Cold Lake First Nations that sparked the conversation.
“They raised a concern, which in broader context the city has about Hwy. 28, not just the Beaver River hill, but the entire highway,” he explained to council during their Tuesday, May 14 meeting.
While the city approaching the issue by looking at the highway as a whole, Cold Lake First Nations is interested in addressing a specific portion of the road.
They're more unsettled about the stretch on top of the Beaver River hill, where the turnoff for Casino Dene is located.
“You have a passing or turning lane coming up the north side of the Beaver River hill, but coming down the south, there’s nothing, and coming around that bend at 100-kilometres per hour, there’s an intersection near there and that poses issues,” detailed Nagoya.
In a statement, Cold Lake First Nations said their main concern is "the safety of those travelling along the stretch of highway that accesses both our business centre and south LeGoff reserve. Our Leadership is hoping that with the support of the City of Cold Lake, we can lobby the provincial government to implement a plausible solution that will increase safety measures for all drivers and pedestrians travelling in that area."
The First Nation is hoping the city will join them in lobbying Alberta Transportation to address the matter.
Coun. Bob Buckle said, “It shocks me there was that kind of development out there along the highway and there wasn’t any engagement done by First Nations and (Alberta Transportation) to begin with. It’s kind of a critical part. If you’re going to build a service centre and you need access, it would’ve triggered automatically a traffic analysis on entrances and exits, so I don’t know how that got beyond that."
He noted, it's an opportunity for the city to express their agitation with the state of the highway, specifically between the Town of Bonnyville and Cold Lake.
“I’m not going to pass up on the opportunity to say that I think regionally, between the Town and MD of Bonnyville, Cold Lake, and Cold Lake First Nations, that Hwy. 28, we should be using the language of urban highway and pushing Alberta Transportation to treat it like an urban highway between two sizeable municipalities for when they do service considerations,” he emphasized. “Long-term being the twinning of that highway between our two communities is ultimately where we want to go with it."
Coun. Jurgen Grau agreed.
He was in favour of writing a letter and arranging a meeting with the province, describing the intersection by the casino as "one of the most dangerous around."
Buckle added the turnoffs at Ardmore and Fort Kent are also worrisome and should be addressed.
Mayor Craig Copeland felt Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul MLA David Hanson and the MD of Bonnyville should be included in the conversation.
"Maybe we need to bring everyone to the table."
Council voted in favour of supporting Cold Lake First Nations in their efforts, while expanding the focus to the entire highway.
