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Rural groups want
high-speed rail study
Concerns linger about track's
effect on countryside
reprinted from Red Deer Advocate (Matthew Gauk) March 24, 2010
Rural municipal officials in
Central Alberta stand on both sides of the tracks when it comes to a
high-speed rail line in the Calgary-Edmonton corridor.
Worries over how such a line would affect life in the countryside
have prompted the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and
Counties to commission a study on the subject, president Don Johnson
said Tuesday.
The association -- made up of municipal districts and counties and
four specialized municipalities -- isn't necessarily against
high-speed rail, he said.
"We've had concern expressed by membership in the central corridor
about the potential impact. Most people don't think it will
(happen), but if it does happen, and we don't have any information
on it . . . we'd be remiss," said Johnson.
The exact nature of the study will be firmed up at a meeting next
month. It's expected to take about six months to complete.
"First off, a high-speed rail is just going to be another trail
through Mountain View County that is going to split our county rural
environment in half. We have Highway 2, we have Highway 2A, and we
have the power lines," Al Kemmere, reeve of Mountain View County,
said Tuesday.
"Another concern is high-speed rail is primarily for the three
cities. It's for Calgary, Red Deer and Edmonton, and it's to serve
their needs."
He's concerned it will take away from traffic stopping in rural
communities, thus affecting economic development.
"It's just going to blow them right straight through. So we get all
the impacts, and none of the benefits."
Everett Page, a Mountain View County councillor, said he's concerned
because with limited stops likely, people in his area would probably
have to drive to Calgary to get to Edmonton on such a train. Plus,
he added, the line would inevitably run through "some of the best
quality farmland in Alberta."
Lacombe County councillor Cliff Soper says he's "always been
supportive" of a high-speed rail line, but that it's just a question
of whether it would be economically feasible. While the population
flow might not warrant such a system now, he's confident it will in
the future.
It would be a huge benefit for anyone in Central Alberta who needs
to fly out of Calgary or Edmonton or who has a business meeting in
the cities, he added.
Red Deer County Mayor Earl Kinsella said he understands that the
rail line could be "a pain in the neck" for farmers who would likely
need to drive out of the way to access possible crossings. But he
argued against the idea that the line would somehow take away from
the economic development of towns along the highway, saying vehicle
traffic will always increase.
Transportation Minister Luke Ouellette, MLA for Innisfail-Sylvan
Lake, calls the route from Calgary to Edmonton "the perfect
corridor". A high-speed rail line wouldn't stop at every spot, but
would "do nothing but help" rural municipalities in Central Alberta,
he said.
The government's next step with bullet trains is to do a railway
corridor study when financing for such a project becomes available,
Ouellette said.
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