The City of Cranbrook said there are no current plans or proposals to build a road within the Community Forest after concerns arose from residents.
City officials said this comes from Cranbrook’s draft official community plan, which is out for public consultation.
A planned access road to the College of the Rockies and a hypothetical roadway through the Community Forest have residents asking questions.
Cranbrook officials confirmed they are working with the College of the Rockies to build a new 800-metre access road.
They note that the road is on college property, and will extend College Way to 30th Avenue North.
More: Construction on new college access road to begin in Cranbrook (Oct. 18, 2023)
Meanwhile, City officials said residents have been questioning a hypothetical road in the Community Forest.
“Under the Local Government Act, we are required to identify in an OCP, the rough location of any major road, sewer, or water system for the future,” said Rob Veg, Manager of Planning with the City of Cranbrook. “The theoretical roads identified in the draft OCP schedules are based on generational hypothetical growth scenarios.”
“If a situation arose where the City’s existing road network, like Victoria Avenue as an example, would not be able to handle the increased traffic volumes of this hypothetical growth, consideration would happen around bringing additional roadways online to manage traffic,” said Veg. “Over the long term, however, if this growth were to never occur the hypothetical roads would not be needed these infrastructure schedules are intended to be forward thinking well beyond the 20-year horizon of the OCP.”
City staff said the current version of the new OCP is still a first draft and will change based on public comments.
“Following the close of the public comment period on Sunday, Dec. 10, 2023, the comments will be reviewed, the draft be amended as needed based on what we hear from the public, and changes presented to Council,” said city staff. “This would be well in advance of the OCP entering the formal approval process through Council.”
You can find the draft OCP and provide feedback through the link below.
More: Cranbrook draft OCP (City of Cranbrook)
