At today's City Council meeting, City Council approved a resolution directing Administration to work with the Government of Alberta to address the impacts associated with the Province's proposed Highway 2 improvements adjacent to Red Deer.
The Province's proposed realignment of the QEII Highway would require approximately 10.1 hectares (25 acres) of City-owned parkland within Maskepetoon Park and Heritage Ranch to accommodate planned highway improvements. The project is intended to improve highway safety, traffic flow and accommodate future growth along one of Alberta's busiest transportation corridors.
The resolution passed by Council today acknowledged both the importance of improving highway safety as well as the significant environmental, ecological and community value of the potentially affected parkland.
Council has directed Administration to work collaboratively with the Province to ensure appropriate environmental mitigation, remediation and restoration measures are implemented throughout the project, including during construction and following completion. The objective is to restore disturbed areas and replace lost trees, wetlands, wildlife habitat, ecological corridors and other environmental features, where appropriate.
Council also directed Administration to enter into negotiations with the Province regarding compensation, replacement assets or infrastructure improvements that fairly reflect the loss or impairment of parkland and the associated environmental, recreational, social and long-term community value of the affected lands.
To support these discussions, Council directed that a closed meeting be scheduled before the end of September to establish a negotiation mandate.
Following today’s meeting, the Office of the Mayor and Council will arrange a meeting between Mayor Cindy Jefferies and Alberta's Minister of Transportation and Economic Corridors to take place in August.
"While this is a Provincial project, Council's responsibility is to protect the interests of Red Deer residents," said Mayor Cindy Jefferies. "If the Province moves forward with acquiring City parkland, we must ensure we are protecting the environmental and community value of Red Deer’s park system. We must ensure these impacts are appropriately addressed and that Red Deer receives fair consideration for the permanent loss of these important community assets."
The proposed highway improvements remain a Government of Alberta project. Decisions regarding the highway design, alignment and construction schedule rest with the province.
Any future agreement involving City-owned parkland would be subject to applicable legislative requirements under the Municipal Government Act and would return to Council for further consideration before being finalized.
Residents can learn more about the provincial project by visiting Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors' project webpage https://www.alberta.ca/highway-2-improvements-in-the-red-deer-area.