The Town of Cochrane wants financial help from the province and industry to maintain the municipal link between Hwy. 11 and Hwy. 652 – commonly known as Detour Lake Rd.
That route is along Railway St. and Third Ave. Mayor Peter Politis notes there is increased mining and other industrial activity up that road.
“The traffic now because of the industrial work that’s taking place in the region has really exponentially increased in fact threefold over the past ten years, from our data, he states.
Town Hall’s projection is that maintaining the route that handles all that heavy traffic will soon cost $250,000 a year.
Politis says the town recently spent $6-million rebuilding Railway St. The heavy equipment has it already deteriorating and it might have to be done again.
“The question just becomes if we are a link between two provincial highways,” he states, “why are the taxpayers of the municipality of Cochrane supporting the expense of that?”
Ideally, the municipality wants Queen’s Park to build a connecting link between the two highways. It’s been asking for 40 years according to the mayor, and is told it’s still at least three years away.
Audio of our full interview is posted below.
