Editor:
To Town of Canmore mayor and council:
I read with interest the budget for the new Multiplex in last week’s newspaper.
It states that one of the items in that budget is the cost of a railway pedestrian crossing near the new Multiplex (which hasn’t been built yet).
I was born and raised in Canmore and am attending Canmore Collegiate High School. I understand the golf club, Rec Centre and high school have been there for most of my life.
Recently, the Canmore courthouse was filled with high school students who had to appear in court because they crossed the tracks to go for lunch at Wendy’s and McDonalds. In the short time we have for lunch, we don’t have time to walk all the way around to the car crossing and we can get there faster by crossing the tracks behind the Rec Centre.
In fact, lots of people who use the Rec Centre, including visiting sports teams, use this access to services. Please tell me why a crossing can’t be built there, for these public buildings that have been there for 15 or more years, while you are planning a new pedestrian crossing for a brand new Multiplex?
When being ticketed, I was told by the bylaw enforcement officer that, “A pedestrian crossing would cost a million bucks”, and therefore couldn’t be provided.
When will the youth of our community get something provided for them? We are students in school trying to get an education. I was supposed to appear in court on Jan. 20, right before exams. I would either have to miss important studying at school or pay a $287 fine.
If a crossing only costs $250,000 and can be planned for a new building, why not take care of the problem that has been going on for years behind the Rec Centre? Doesn’t the cost of hiring a bylaw enforcement officer to patrol for the CPR (a private corporation), and all the time wasted in court, and the cost to the public, add up pretty fast?
Please answer me and let me know what you will do about this problem, and inform the bylaw enforcement officers that the information they gave out is inaccurate, and that the conduct towards students was somewhat rude.
I hope you can deal with this problem and I await your response.
Landon Sandford,
Canmore
