It is easy to travel around Red Deer and see examples of idealism meeting practicality and realism.

Unfinished roads going to non-existent bridges. Neighbourhoods like Timberlands, with a firehall and a high school and way too many undeveloped lots.

Capstone is a decades old work in progress that keeps hitting the taxpayers. In the beginning it was simple, move the dilapidated public works building out of downtown and turn the riverfront property into high end river view properties.

A wonderful vision but reality stepped in. The new public works, went with the high-end vision and the costs soared to north of a hundred million dollars and kept going. Re-aligning the roads took another 50 million, upgrading services, burying lines cost more.

After decades and about $200 million dollars we have 23 acres of empty vision. There is still talk of a $20+ million pedestrian bridge just metres away from Taylor Drive bridge. The costs for this unfinished vision is hitting $10 million an acre.

Enough with the eternal yet to be built projects, as more examples like the Dawe Arena twinning, north of 11A , 50m pool, Hazlett Lake, and the list keeps going.

Let us talk about the city’s tendency to build and abandon philosophy. The neighbourhoods that they cannot maintain.

Our Premier keeps talking or ranting about equalization payments, How Alberta has paid more to Ottawa than they have received back.

Our neighbourhoods can say similar sentiments when it comes to city hall. My neighbourhood, Sunnybrook is 55 years old. Our roads and sidewalks are 55 years old. We have been paying property taxes for 55 years. Did we get 55 years of property taxes back in return?

My 55 year old sidewalk got half of one crack repaired this year. The second time in the 20 plus years that I have lived on this street. I have shrubs growing in my sidewalk, I have pulled saplings out of the street in front of my house. My sidewalk has sunk to becoming a pool or an ice rink depending upon the weather.

The city said it cannot afford to maintain the 800 kms of sidewalks it now has. The population is static, population increase of 195 in 5 years, but we built 1299 new homes with sidewalks at the same time. If the crack is not at least 25mm (1”) wide and poses a tripping hazard it will not be repaired.

The city subsidizes the downtown with our taxes. They feel the downtown is a vital attraction for Red Deer. Sunnybrook was once named in MacLeans magazine as the Number 1 neighbourhood in Canada. Did the city capitalize on this national news item? No, it widened 32 Street and 40 Avenue and isolated and abandoned Sunnybrook.

The Bower Mall was built with the understanding that the Molly Banister drive would be extended to give direct access to Sunnybrook, Anders, Morrisroe, Inglewood, Vanier, Mountview, Deer Park etc. The Bower subdivision was built isolated from Molly Banister Drive by this commercial development.

The city wants to abandon that commitment.

Ideally, in another dimension, the Piper Creek would be this bubbling brook enjoyed by abundant wildlife and environmentally conscious Red Deer residents. Reality sets in.

The polluted, weed infested, algae prone creek by Bower Mall after flowing through 2 landfills, dead falls, blow downs, and a cow pasture, is isolated from the trail that comes out of the woods by Molly Banister Drive. The trail continues south in the grasses parallel with Barrett Drive on the west side.

The east side of the creek will have the old barb wired game proof fence that borders it, be replaced by the rear residential fences of 50 new homes, if the road allowance is removed.

Negating the bridge, eliminating the customer traffic, slowing emergency vehicles, forcing thousands of drivers daily to drive 4 extra kilometres in a city that CBC once reported had the poorest air quality in Canada. (September 9, 2015).

The city talks about a Garden of Eden, this wonderful wildlife corridor, where animals can roam except reality plays a hand. Traffic is a wall less barrier. 10,000 cars per day is the tipping point for wildlife. 32 Street is currently at 23,500 cars per day with expectations of 40,000 per day when it is widened to 6 lanes when Molly Bannister is not extended. 19 Street is expected to be widened to 6 lanes and traffic is expected to soar to even higher numbers.

The thing about 19 Street is that it too crosses the creek in this fantasy wild life corridor, on the south side of Molly Banister. There is no bridge, no tunnel, no safe way for animals to cross. There is talk about a pedestrian bridge for residents to cross. There is talk about a traffic circle for cars to have easier access to 19 Street. Where are the city councillors demands to protect the oft-mentioned wildlife corridor?

The proposed bridge for Molly Banister will take up an acre of land and the road will run along the creek similar to Barrett Drive in Bower and Selkirk Boulevard in Sunnybrook then run parallel with the power lines similar to 22 Street. The alternative being proposed is 50 houses along the creek taking up 16 +/- acres then a road to the power lines. Which is honestly better for wildlife?

The north connector encroaches on wildlife way beyond the Molly Banister Ext. yet silence from city councillors.

Realism plays a dirty hand at times, and the city seems to ignore this and you only need to look at future expenses the city incurred in their quests for unrealistic expectations. The million dollar annual payments for years to come for the winter games, the Exhibition Hall at the Westerner where councillors sat on the board, Capstone, Timberlands, North of 11A, Dawe arena, the unfinished bridge, the bus terminal’s green roof, and the list grows.

There are more options than (1)dream the impossible or (2) build and abandon? You could maintain what you have. Follow through on obligations and stop making rash decisions on immediate schemes.

There 300 families backing onto 32 Street that do not deserve to have their quality of life diminished. The same can be said of the families backing onto 19 St.

Thousands of families in neighbourhoods south of 39 St. do not deserve the traffic congestion forced onto their commute.

19 Street is becoming a valued asset to county businesses and Gasoline Alley will be easier to access than downtown. The downtown needs our help in more ways than subsidies.

I believed that the bigger the picture the more obvious the need for Molly Bannister to be extended.  So did we get good value for our property taxes? Will the attacks on our quality of life end? Does equalization even exist? We will see.

Thank you.