By Andrea Horton
On May 7, Sparwood City Council passed a motion for Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) to replace the railway crossing at 15.2 Cranbrook subdivision on Michel Creek Road with concrete panels.
CPR has scheduled to do the road crossing rehabilitation work in July of this year, they will replace the wood planks with concrete surfacing panels at this location.
The city repaved the crossing area last year but, due to the heavy vehicle traffic the crossing is failing again. The concrete panels that CPR will replace the existing planks with will be stronger and last longer which should lessen maintenance and increase the longevity of the crossing.
As per the Canadian Transport Board order, the city is responsible for surface maintenance costs, therefore CPR is requesting $20,000 which is the cost of the concrete panels.
The only other option to this is to continue to replace the planks more frequently.