The Town of Coaldale may be getting a new high school and recreation centre, but some residents are concerned about the details.
Site A, the name of the proposed location, is located in the northwest part of town. Anyone living south of Highway 3 and the train tracks would have to cross them to access the site. This is a concern for some residents, including Kyle Frache.
“I don’t deem it safe because it’s impossible to get across Highway 3 and the railroad system at this time,” he said.
“There are no overpasses, there are no crosswalks. The crosswalks that we do have…they’re not complete.”
Coaldale officials told Global News they are working with CP Rail, Alberta Transportation and Transport Canada to improve infrastructure, a process they say will follow the approval of the proposal.
“We also have a significant pathway expansion network that we’re doing as a way to connect the residents of the south with the north.”
Not only are some residents concerned about safety, they also say they’re frustrated that they weren’t consulted about where the high school should be built before the proposal was made and that the decision was made strictly by the town.
“We were upfront with people and informed them about why we selected the location that we did,” Hastings said.
“We didn’t want to ask people a question when we’d already made up our mind.”
The reason council didn’t consult residents, he added, is because they were under a tight timeline to apply for provincial funding for the project.
The town said it will address resident concerns at the next council meeting on June 10.