Waterbridge is the newest land development that includes the enormous 2400 acres of land located on the west side of Chestermere stretching from the Trans-Canada highway and as far south as Township Road 240. It lies within the 2009 Chestermere annexation area from Rocky View County and will accommodate a projected population of 46,333 residents living in four communities.
The development team held a public open house at the Chestermere Rec Centre on Thursday, December 5 where the public was invited to come see what is proposed for the area as well as an opportunity to provide comments and feedback. The event was well attended with over 100 people who came out to see the information and ask questions.
Members of the development team were in attendance including those representing the participating developers, planning, engineering, storm water management, transportation and environmental consulting.
Pam MacInnis with B & A Planning Group explains the Waterbridge vision is a ‘Waterscape’ theme that integrates the natural topography of the land, the environmentally significant areas with the need to manage stormwater, all while tying in recreational opportunities. “A Regional Pathway system will connect residents from north and south to the Town Centre and other community services and amenities such as schools, the new recreation centre site and shopping & recreation opportunities,” states MacInnis.
According to MacInnis, Chestermere Utilities Inc. will be constructing the new lift station needed to support this development. “Our understanding is that they anticipate starting in 2014, and so the lift station will probably operational in 2015.”
A Chestermere couple who have been residents for 20 years attended the open house and shared their concerns with the size of this development, “The infrastructure we have now is not adequate for all of this and my concern is not having the appropriate roads in place – if they don’t build that first we will be in trouble.”
MacInnis addresses this common concern of current residents of Chestermere by stating that the Chestermere Town Planners are currently working on a Chestermere Boulevard Corridor Study. “This Study will determine how the road will be upgraded, how many lanes it will be and what style of road it will be (higher speed/wider lanes or lower speed/pedestrian oriented),” and she adds “All of the traffic volumes, both existing today and anticipated from the Waterbridge development, are analysed in a Traffic Impact Analysis to ensure that future roads can handle the traffic capacity that arises from the development and the surrounding developed areas.”
MacInnis says that maintaining a small town feel is very important to Chestermere and Chestermere Council therefore the Waterbridge Master Area Structure Plan envisions communities that are walkable, with neighbourhood nodes that create opportunities for residents to meet and socialize within their own neighbourhoods.
“The Village Centres will provide community-scale retail for local convenience shopping and gathering to allow residents to live, shop and play in their communities once they are home. These types of local amenities help create a sense of place, foster social development and will help ensure the new communities in Waterbridge maintain a small town feel where neighbours know each other,” shares MacInnis.
The next step in the regulatory approval process is for a public hearing of council, anticipated in early 2014. Anyone who was not able to make it out to the Open House, all the information regarding Waterbridge and the Master Area Structure Plan is available online at www.waterbridgeinchestermere.com , as well you can fill out a survey and leave any additional comments you have.
