When Susan Cameron and her husband moved to West Bragg Creek three decades ago, they thought they had found the ideal safe community, surrounded by the beauty of nature to raise their family.
Alberta Transportation hosted a West Calgary Ring Road public information session in Bragg Creek Nov. 24, and 60 out of the 107 Bragg Creek and area residents who attended the session completed a survey and indicated that their main concern was the lack of emergency egress or secondary road out of West Bragg Creek in the event of a wildfire or another catastrophic flood.
After the 2013 flood, some Bragg Creek and area residents were trapped in West Bragg Creek after the bridge over the Elbow River (that is the only access out of the community) was temporarily closed.
On Nov. 27, 2013, the province and Tsuu T’ina First Nation signed the Transportation and Utility Corridor Agreement, a land transfer agreement that allowed for the exchange of money and land so that the southwest section of the Calgary Ring Road could be built.
As part of that 2013 fiscal land transfer agreement signed between Alberta Transportation and the Tsuu T’ina First Nation, part of the Nations’ land will be transferred to the province, and the province will also transfer 5,018.1 acres of Crown land located in West Bragg Creek to the Nation.
Cameron has lived in West Bragg Creek for over 30 years and her property borders part of the Crown land that will be transferred to the Tsuu T’ina First Nation.
Cameron said she feels that the community was not consulted about the land transfer agreement that could potentially affect Rocky View County’s ability to build an emergency exit for West Bragg Creek residents.
“We desperately need a secondary emergency exit out of West Bragg Creek, and the 2013 flood brought that to light,” said Cameron. “If our community had been consulted, we could have asked for a secondary road or emergency egress out of West Bragg Creek.”
“I feel that the government of Alberta doesn’t care about Bragg Creek,” said Cameron. “The public information session happened after it (the land swap) was already a done deal.”
In Crown lands, there is a road allowance set for potential future roads, according to Alberta Transportation spokesperson Nancy Beasley Hosker.
Rocky View County reeve Margaret Bahcheli said that the Crown land that is to be transferred to the Tsuu T’ina First Nation has a structured road allowance and the county thought they could develop that road allowance in the future (in order to build an emergency egress or secondary road leading out of West Bragg Creek.)
Alberta Transportation director of major capital planning Jarret Berezanski said that Rocky View County has made its concerns about the (lack of) emergency access known to the province.
“I think, triggered by the fact that we are closing down the road allowance, (it may be thought that) we’re taking away an opportunity,” Berezanski said of the chance to build an egress.
Bahcheli said that Bragg Creek’s location makes it one of the more at-risk communities.
“Based on what I heard tonight, the province is open to discuss solutions for an emergency egress for Bragg Creek,” said Bahcheli.
Berezanski said the province understands and appreciates concerns of West Bragg Creek residents with regards to the lack of emergency egress out of the community.
“We are committed to, and will work with and support the county to address their main concern, the (lack of) access into West Bragg Creek,” he said. “We support the county in working towards a solution.”
Cameron said she thinks the province had an obligation to consult with adjacent landowners prior to signing the 2013 land transfer deal, but these affected landowners were not consulted.
Berezanski said the general government policy when dealing with land transfer negotiations is that these negotiations are generally not done in public and the government does not negotiate with adjacent landowners, as that may lead to derailed negotiations.
“We checked with ESRD (Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development) and there is no legal duty (to consult) required,” said Berezanski.
Berezanski said Alberta Transportation shared information about the land transfer agreement as soon as they felt they could, as these were sensitive negotiations with the Tsuu Tina First Nation.
Information on the land transfer agreement was made public when the deal was signed in November 2013, according to Hosker.
According to Hosker, Rocky View County was part of the original public open houses held back in 2009 for planning the final segment of the ring road.
Cameron said she would like to know why Bragg Creek residents were not consulted directly about the changes to the original 2009 land swap deal that affects adjacent landowners in West Bragg Creek.
“No consultation was done over the new set of plans and I was only aware of the 2009 ring road plans,” Cameron said.
“Why was the 2009 land swap map changed to a new map in 2013, and who did Alberta Transportation consult to change this map?”
Berezanski confirmed with Bragg Creek residents at last week’s public information session that the footprint of the final agreement is essentially the same as that of the 2009 deal with 480 additional acres.
