Councillors call for more safe access points on Calgary rivers
Posted Jun 13, 2016 7:16 am.
Last Updated Jun 13, 2016 7:21 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Nothing beats a trip to one of Calgary’s rivers on a hot summer day, but getting onto the river to float in a tube or do some fly fishing can be a challenge given there are only two safe access points.
Some councillors are trying to change that and will bring forward a motion Monday hoping to add some new ones.
Coun. Shane Keating says there were at least eight at one point, but the flood and other circumstances have left the city with just two: one in Bowness and one in Fish Creek.
“There’s a need for us to develop more specific spots along the river that allow people to get in and out without damaging the infrastructure or putting themselves in harm’s way,” he said.
He says they’ve heard from tour guides who have talked about the challenges of taking people onto the river and from corporate Calgary as well.
“If corporate Calgary wanted to go out and have a team building event, they can’t do it because they need 12 and 13 hours, they don’t have three and four hour guides that they can enter and exit at specific points,” he explained, adding not only are more access points needed, but more needs to be done to make sure the ones the city has are environmentally sensitive.
“I’ve seen a large SUV drive down onto the sandbar in the middle of the river and was driving around down there and even though you’re not supposed to, the access allowed him to, but it shouldn’t have,” he said.
Keating says it’s going to take the co-operation of all three levels of government, since the river isn’t technically under the city’s jurisdiction, but hopefully something can be worked out by next spring.
