Council Vote

Council voted today to close Rocky Ridge Road at a 1st reading. 9 to 3 to close. Because of the delay, Council intends to skip the 2nd ready to avoid any further delays and the possibility of loosing funding from the government and go straight to 3rd reading next Monday. Hubbil was quoted as saying that the community now supports the road closure. Mayor Bronconier advised that this has dragged on long enough and besides his community only has 1 entrance. He also congratulated Alderman Hodges for all his hard work since 2006. Thanks,

Todd Phillips
R3C3 Chair

Town Hall Meeting/Open House to Explain Why Rocky Ridge Road is Closing and to Address Community Traffic Mitigation Measures

The R3C3 Technical Subcommittee met with the Deputy Minister of Transportation (Government of Alberta), General Manager, Transportation (City of Calgary) and their staff on May 9, 2009. Also in attendance was a consultant engaged by the Government of Alberta to review options that would render the full and permanent closure of the Crowchild Trail/Rocky Ridge Road intersection unnecessary.

Unfortunately at that meeting a technically and financially viable option was not produced to keep the Rocky Ridge Road/Crowchild Trail intersection open. A tentative date of August 1, 2009 has now been set for the proposed road closure.

The proposed closure is on the agenda for a meeting of the Calgary City Council on May 11, 2009 and has been deferred again until May 25th so that mitigation measures can be addressed.

The R3C3 committee will be organizing a Town Hall Meeting/Open House in June with our elected officials, the independent consultant and provincial/municipal engineers to explain to residents "Why Rocky Ridge Road is Closing" and to address Community Traffic Mitigation Measures.

Todd Phillips
Chairman
R3C3

How Did You Get to Royal Oak Victory Church This Morning?

You took one of four routes:
1. Crowchild Trail through Rocky Ridge Road Intersection Direct:

• 1.5 mins. Less than half a kilometer
  
  

2. Crowchid Trail to 12 Mile Coulee to Rocky Valley Drive to Rocky Ridge Blvd:

• 28 Driveways, Potential School Zone & Baseball Field, School Bus Stops, Bus Stops, Community Center & Playground, Soccer Field
  
• 5 minutes 50 sec (6 mins) – 5 kms
  

3. Stoney Trail to Country Hills to Royal Birch Blvd to Royal Oak Drive:

• 3 stop lights, Potential School Zone, Baseball Fields, Soccer Fields, 30 km/hr Playground Zone
  
• 7 minutes, approx. 7 kms
  

4. City of Calgary’s Proposed Route:
Stoney Trail to Country Hills to Rocky Ridge Road to Royal Oak Drive:

• 5 stop lights (one will be at Rocky Ridge Road / Country Hills Blvd) (Stopped for two lights...)
  
• 9.5 minutes, 7.5 kms
  

-- Lauree Phillips - R3C3 Communications Subcommittee

We Must Send Our Message By Phone As Well

Dear Residents of Rocky Ridge and Royal Oak,

Thank you so much, to those of you that have done so, for sending your emails to Minister's Oulette's office and copying the various politicians. Hundreds of emails have bombarded their offices and they have taken notice of our issue. Usually for even a well publicized issue they only receive a few emails, however they now know this community is well-organized, standing together and strong and will oppose this closure until we receive some resolution. We are probably now at the most critical stage of the campaign and it is now imperative that we maintain the momentum and in fact step up the campaign. We now need to communicate the same message to them through a phone call campaign. This phone call should take at most 5 minutes.... Due to timing of provincial meetings on this issue, we need this message to be heard Monday (4 May), preferably in the morning.

The most effective approach for us will be to call Mr. Ouellette's office and for the community to voice their concern regarding this proposed closure. You can dial directly to 780-427-2080 or if you prefer, you can dial the toll free phone number 403-310-0000 after which, at the appropriate prompt, you can connect to the Minister of Transportation’s office by dialing 780-427-2080.
Because we are looking for consistency and a respectful tone of the message, we are asking that you state the following:

1. Opposition to the road closure for your own reasons;

2. You, representing your community, are asking Minister Ouellette to help us by directing his senior officials to engage the City of Calgary's Transportation engineers to bring forward a viable, cost effective solution that will permit the intersection to remain open. It is important to stress that we are not asking for a complete review of the design of the interchange. We just want all parties to act in good faith and give an honest attempt to find a win/win solution for the community, the City of Calgary, and the Province of Alberta.

Thank you so much everyone,

Sincerely,
Todd Phillips
Chairman
Rocky Ridge Road Closure Community Committee (R3C3)