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Transportation Master Plan
The City of Camrose recently completed an update to its multi-year Transportation Master Plan. This key document is used by the City in planning for the establishment and maintenance of all existing and planned transportation facilities within the City of Camrose.
As part of this process, the City hosted a public Open House on June 28th, 2006, at the Camrose Regional Exhibition to allow the general public and special interest groups to review the key conclusions and recommendations described in the draft versions of the Transportation Master Plan. This Open House also provided individuals with the opportunity to give feedback to City staff as to the current state and future needs of the transportation system network within the City. With the amount of interest received at this Open House, the City also hosted a general Public Hearing at the August 14th, 2006, General Council Meeting. Similar to the Open House, the public hearing was very well attended, and served to allow a number of citizens to make formal presentations to Council.
The final Transportation Master Plan is available for download: Transportation Master Plan small (4MB), Transportation Master Plan large (45MB - high speed internet connection recommended). Additionally, paper copies of the Transportation Master Plan can be viewed at the Camrose Public Library. Please contact the City of Camrose Engineering Department if you have any additional questions.
Thank you to all who provided feedback on the draft versions of the Master Plan. Your input is a beneficial tool in helping to determine the transportation needs of the City.
Executive Summary (as adopted by Council, April 23, 2007)
Planning Camrose's future transportation systems takes careful thought, significant data analysis, and many discussions with citizens, administration, Councillors and transportation specialists. The proposed Camrose Transportation Master Plan reviewed existing land use, population, employment, and traffic conditions. These were used to forecast future population (see Exhibit 4.1) and employment growth over the next 20 years, which in turn were used to forecast future traffic growth and its impacts (see Exhibits 3.4, 5.3, and 5.5).
The forecasted volumes were used to identify roads needing improvements in order to accommodate growth. Also, roads requiring repair due to wear and tear were identified. The roadway improvements for the next 5 and 20 years were then identified (see Exhibits 6.3 and 7.1).
The focus of the City's efforts will be to improve access to the downtown, to repair and upgrade existing roadways and to respond to development needs on an as needed basis. The plan also identifies the need for a Transit Feasibility Study to examine transit service options and costs for Camrose.
The first five years of the plan (see section 6.0) feature many rehabilitation projects as well as upgrades to 48 Avenue (west of 53 Street), 50 Street (south of 44 Avenue), 54 Avenue (west of 39 Street), and 39 Street (south of 54 Avenue).
Just beyond the five year time frame (see section 7.0) is the construction of the 53 Street bridge link over Mirror Lake, along with associated parking bans and traffic signals on 53 Street at 50 Avenue. This will help support growth in the downtown, provide an alternate route when the 48 Avenue Bridge is rehabilitated, relieve traffic on Grand Drive, and provide a logical highway connection and truck route through the north portion of the City.
For the remainder of the twenty year time frame, Camrose will require some major roadway improvements throughout the City to cope with growth. Highlights include:
- Improvements to 48 Avenue (from Mount Pleasant Drive to 51 Street)
- Twinning portions of Camrose Drive (including the Camrose Creek Bridge) and 68 Street
- Extension of Camrose Drive to link with Highway 13 further west of the City
- A North Ring road to handle cross-town traffic across north Camrose
- Improved connections between Highway 26 and Highway 13
- 53 Street Bridge replacement at the north City limit
In addition to roadway and transit issues, the existing trail system was reviewed and desirable areas for expansion were identified (see Exhibits 3.2, 6.4, and 7.3). Highlights include increased connectivity to school, the Augustana Campus of the University of Alberta, the Downtown and new developing areas, as well as expansion along Camrose Creek.