October marks a year of the west portion of Stoney Trail being open for drivers. The final stretch between 69 Street and Bow Trail is coming up to a year in operation as well. The ring road has created a quicker route for Springbank Hill residents to access many communities across the city. It’s been a relief to many to be able to get to the northern part of the city without having to sit in traffic on Crowchild or Deerfoot. The shops and services at Taza are a few radio songs away, and the mountains are closer than ever. Having multiple exits onto the road nearby has been a boon for our community.
However, some issues do persist a year later. Back when the ring road was opened many residents noticed a large increase in traffic noise in the neighbourhood. Given that both our community and Discovery Ridge across Stoney Trail border the road, the hope was that the province would include some sort of noise reduction measure. A berm was created on the south side of Stoney Trail, but noise studies determined that no attenuation measures were needed on the Springbank Hill side. A year later, this feels like it is not the case.
For those living on the side of the neighbourhood closest to the highway, the noise has become a consistent part of home life. A quick walk through the fondly named “Rock Park” above Springbank Blvd, even on a Sunday morning, is marred by traffic noise from Stoney. New highways bring new changes to the neighbourhood and both light and noise pollution can be expected. That being said, after a year of waiting for traffic patterns to establish we are now able to petition the government to do another noise study. If they do find that the decibel levels are above acceptable, they are required to provide sound reduction measures. A berm on the north side isn’t possible at this point, but other noise barriers could be looked at.
If this is a topic that concerns you, or if you would like to provide support to your neighbours, you could take a few minutes to write or email our government representatives requesting that a new sound study be done. Our community association has reached out to other affected communities to increase the chances of being heard and travelled to the legislature to speak on this matter.
If interested, you can contact our MLA, Mike Ellis at [email protected].
You can also fill out the form at https://www.alberta.ca/contact-a-cabinet-minister. Select the Ministry of Transportation and Economic Corridors.
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