There’s a true story about a local citizen who was really, really irritated about the state of roads in his part of the land.
We won’t name him, or the local councillor he cornered one day in store. The confrontation was not so quiet, and not so friendly. The citizen loudly cussed and swore at the councillor over a particular stretch of road in the councillor’s district. The councillor refused to agree this particular road was really as bad as what the citizen said. Finally, even though the road was out of his way, the councillor said he would drive the road himself on his way home.
“You better have a four-wheel drive,” snarled the still very angry citizen.
As it turned out, the councillor was driving a car. The story goes, he had to call a tow truck. First, his exhaust system was ripped off by deep ruts. Finally, he got the whole vehicle stuck on the road. Besides the tow truck, a grader and gravel loads were soon dispatched to the road.
Interestingly, some rural municipalities make it a point for everybody in their government to ride a bus together to all the roads in their jurisdiction. They all get to see first-hand exactly what it is their voting public, school bus riding students, and all the businesses and services that use their roads might deal with, good or bad, on a daily basis. Good move to see things first-hand.
So we ask how higher up provincial elected people, our MLAs, learn about the conditions of roads in much of our province.
Is it from letters from voters? Complaints from ambulance services and first responders? A delegation or two from a local government in their area? Maybe it’s a many paged report from the transportation officials in charge of the region. Maybe a phone call from a reeve or mayor. Whatever it is, it can probably be improved.
And no matter what, at the end of the day, it’s a lot of rural against city. Getting Edmonton or Calgary MLAs to vote to help maintain county roads in Northern Sunrise or M.D. of Smoky River is an uphill battle.
How uphill? Look at roads the province is actually responsible for – our numbered highways.
The standing joke in some families: “Why are you buying another (shed, lawn mower, boat, tool, machine, set of golf clubs, you name it) when you don’t look after the ones you got?” Or “Why another blouse with all those in the closet?”
That’s Alberta for you. Brand new roads, overpasses, roundabouts, added lanes and more, when the ones we have aren’t looked after.
One sad example: citizens in Fort McMurray were in the news fixing potholes on Highway 63 because government isn’t doing the job.
Over 100 years of building roads and it isn’t even “We build three kinds – good, cheap, or fast. You can have any two.” In Alberta, it’s “Only one kind – cheap. But if you live in the right place, you can get as much as you want.”
The county ridealongs in a bus are a great idea. Maybe we can buddy up groups of rural MLAs with city MLAs and do regular tours around Alberta. It isn’t just that councillor above needing eye opening.
Jeff Burgar