Environmental Appeal's Board continues stop work on the Southwest Calgary Ring Road

August 20, 2017, Calgary – Alberta's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) has continued the stop work order related to filling in wetlands that are adjacent to Calgary's "fragile" and protected Weaselhead Natural Environment Park. The EAB will issue details on Monday related to an accelerated hearing. YYC Cares spokesperson Allie Tulick reiterates, "Like all of the concerned residents in southwest Calgary, we are not against the Southwest Calgary Ring Road (SWCRR), we just want the Alberta Government to build a better bridge, an eco friendly clear span bridge, across Calgary's most biodiverse river valley". She further states, "This is 2017 and we shouldn't be filling in this beautiful valley with hundreds of thousands of truck loads of dirt".

Barry Lester P.Eng., a resident of Discovery Ridge, an expert in the design, project management, and delivery of large complex projects in his filing with EAB states, "its irrefutable that the environmental impact will be reduced by narrowing the roadway". Mr. Lester says the poorly designed bridge over the Elbow River valley is just the tip of the iceberg, "Alberta Transportation are presently preparing the right of way for a sixteen lane roadway. They are spacing the carriageways far enough apart to allow for the ultimate sixteen lanes and they are designing and building all of the overpass structures at every interchange to span the additional lanes". YYC cares estimates that hundreds of millions of dollars can be saved by simply scaling back the design for the maximum 8-lane highway. Scaling back protects the environment and adjacent communities.

Brian Keating, Honorary Conservation Advisor, Calgary Zoo and past Head of Conservation Outreach at the Zoo was quoted on CBC radio earlier this week as saying, "they are going to dike the entire Weaselhead except for the part where the river flows through and this is going to upset the entire ecosystem tremendously, its essentially "gutting" the Weaselhead". He goes on to say, that this is "another tragic example of how we don't pay attention to important wetlands". Mr. Keating then urges Albertans to contact their local Government officials to let them know how they feel.

YYC Cares calls on the Minister to stop the overbuild, to force the contractor to abide by his own June 14, 2017 directive canceling the outer ring road and the need for 16 lanes, and to meet with us to design a better bridge across the Elbow River valley. "Now that we have a permanent stay, this doesn't need to go to hearing, Minister Mason simply needs to sit down with us to work out a cost effective and environmentally friendly solution", says Ms. Tulick.

Thank you.

YYC Cares
info@yyccares.ca

YYC Cares is a group of community residents that are concerned about a bridge being built over the Elbow River. The bridge is part of the Southwest leg of the Calgary Ring Road, which the government is currently constructing. As the Ring Road passes through the environmentally sensitive Weaselhead Flats, it will come to a point where it will have to cross the Elbow River. We are committed to working with the government to build a better bridge. For more information please visit http://www.yyccares.ca/