Markham Hislop

I understand why the City of Calgary had to close 68 Street.  Art Mackenzie understands why the City closed 68 Street.  What neither of us understand is why they did it they way they did it.

Art tells the story of meeting with last year with the project engineer.  He can’t recall if the engineer worked for the City or the construction company, but it doesn’t matter.

He laid out his concerns for the gentleman in detail: some Race City events will attract thousands of fans.  They need to enter and leave the facility in an orderly and efficient manner.  Given the nature of motorsport racing, emergency vehicles may need to arrive and leave the facility in a hurry.

Backing traffic up 114th Avenue, which is only two lanes with no shoulders, is a very bad idea.  Back it up far enough, to 52 Street or even Barlow Trail, and traffic becomes a disaster.  Possibly even an accident waiting to happen.

Those appear, to my admittedly jaundiced eye, to be pretty darn good arguments for more than a single access point to the race track.

The engineer, practical fellow that he undoubtedly is, apparently thought so too.  He listened to Art, made notes and promised to follow up.  Art never heard from him again. 

Talk about a bad first date.

Now the City, through Blair Riddle, a media spokesperson and admittedly not one of the Waste and Recycling bureaucrats actually involved in the project, says the City “will work with event organizers to minimize the impact of construction activities.”

Gee, thanks.

The City eliminated 6 of Race City’s entrances.  It’s too late to minimize the impact of construction activities.  The damage has already been done.

Short of building a few new entrances – and god knows where those would be – there is nothing the City can do to limit the impact of its decision on the track.

Mr. Riddle also says Waste and Recycling hasn’t directly received any information about planned events at Race City in 2009.

We don’t know if the mystery engineer relayed Art’s issues to Waste and Recycling, so maybe W&R did and maybe it didn’t receive any information on what would be going on at Race City this racing season.  And I find it hard to believe that in all the communications Art has had with the City over the lease no one ever bothered to discuss upcoming events with him.

But, really, who cares?

Race City has been on its present site for 28 years.  Even a City engineer can figure out that a race track is likely to attract a few racers and fans during the course of a season. 

Did they think that big parking lot and the six entrances were there for decoration?

What I particularly don’t understand is why, when the City plans a construction project it knows will have a major impact on one or more adjacent businesses, it doesn’t sit down with said businesses and design a strategy to mitigate the impact of the project.

Art says the City just quit talking to him.  Done.  Finished.  Dead air.  Radio silence.

At least he has company in his misery.  How many times have we heard similar stories on other projects? 

Memorial Avenue businesses are up in arms over a half-baked proposal to shut down part of that street on certainweekends.  Apparently a certain alderman came up with the idea, a certain bureaucrat thought it was a good idea, and ipso facto the City makes plans to implement it without so much as picking up the phone and talking to some of the businesses whose livelihood might be affected.

Sound familiar?

I have argued in this column a number of times that the City should have pursued a strategy toward Race City that would allow both parties to win.

Say, integrating the Shepard Landfill storm water retention ponds with the Race City road course, something Art says is common in other jurisdictions.  Art says that when he broached the idea with Waste and Recycling he was told that doing so “would be inconvenient” for the department.

But it’s ok to inconvenience a dozen businesses that make their living from Race City?  And it’s ok to inconvenience thousands of race fans who attend events at Race City?  And lets not talk about the southeast businesses that rent rooms to out of town race fans, sell them meals and gasoline and entertainment. 

What really steams me is the arrogance of City bureaucrats.  They’re like the gods of Mount Olympus – they scratch their asses and we mere mortals tremble.

No one denies these projects have to be built.  But why not try to cooperate with the businesses the projects impact, try to come up with win-win strategies?

The City appears to have won the lease argument.  Barring a miracle, 2009 will be the last season of racing at the venerable old track. 

But winning the match wasn’t enough.  The City had to stand on Race City’s throat and squeeze a little harder.

Closing 68 Street will make this summer’s season just that much more difficult for the Calgary motorsport community. 

A little graciousness in victory would have been appreciated.

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