The Cochrane Eagle is asking candidates an issue-based question each week leading up to the election that they will answer in their own words. If a candidate does not answer a question, we will include a bio box with a disclaimer saying the candidate did not respond. All candidates were given a limit of 185 words and questions will be edited to fit that length. Our third question is:
How do you plan to address the town’s growing traffic congestion?
We have fallen too far behind on our road network. Why wasn’t this upgraded before our community doubled in population? Our current council would have us believe that more growth will pay for “fixing” our problem. Rampant growth is the reason we have a traffic problem. We must adjust our approach new growth must bear the burden it brings our community. We are being told that the new bridge is going to lessen traffic, I agree it is a needed piece of infrastructure but it will only serve the residents we have now. Last week, Council approved three new subdivisions south of the river, an additional 20,000 residents… now we need two bridges!
We need Centre Avenue upgraded and to go under the tracks, without this in place we will only be funneling more traffic into our downtown without a plan to get it through. My focus will be on the road network we have control over, while lobbying the province as a regional delegation to twin both our highways.
