Over the past weeks, the DRCA has continued to advocate on behalf of our special community and has been in contact with both Enmax and Alberta Transportation (AT) regarding their notices of tree removal in the Transportation Utility Corridor (TUC) as part of the West Calgary Ring Road Project (www.westringroad.ca). Specifically, we raised concerns with regard to the lack of time between the notices and work commencing, as well as attempting to seek some agreement that potentially all of the trees in the highlighted zones did not really need to be removed. Enmax, who was instructed to complete this work by AT, clarified for us that only a few trees would need to be removed from the highlighted area in their notice. AT, however, stated that all trees in the zone in their notice would need to be removed and refused to engage in any productive conversation with regard to this decision changing. We requested an on-site meeting and this too was refused.
We also reached out to our MLA Mike Ellis’ office and our Councillor Richard Pootmans’ office for assistance. They too received the same responses from Enmax and AT. Despite our request for further consultation on the issue, both Enmax and AT went ahead and removed the trees.
Once the TUC work is completed, we intend to ask Enmax and AT for new tree planting in areas that will not risk any damage to underground utilities. We would like to thank residents who reached out to Enmax, AT, MLA Mike Ellis and Councillor Richard Pootmans to share their concerns. This assisted in ensuring the severity of our concerns were understood.