Life on a highway: What it’s like for southern Alberta communities divided by a major thoroughfare

Drive south from Calgary on Highway 2 and watch as the speed cuts from 110 kilometres an hour down to 70, then 50, then 30 for a temporary school zone.

It’s a unique stretch of a few kilometres entering and driving through Nanton, Alta., where the highway divides the town.

That works fine for residents, so long as drivers obey the speed limits.

But that’s not always the case. Speeders are a big concern. So are drivers going the wrong way, since the highway splits off in two directions north and south.

The town’s mayor, Jennifer Handley, estimates at least one driver going the wrong way daily, with confused drivers coming from British Columbia getting some of the blame for that.

Then there’s the sound of heavy trucks rattling through, carrying goods from south of the border up to Alaska and everywhere in between. When they use their engine retarder brakes to slow through town, it can be a noisy affair. 

In Claresholm, Alta., also bisected by Highway 2, a citizen recently wrote to council concerned about the sound of those brakes and traffic whizzing through town, which he said disrupts his sleep and negatively impacts his quality of life. 

Fort Macleod, Alta., meanwhile, finds itself at the intersection of two highways. But this year will see the beginning of a process that could one day see Highway 3 bypass the town — more on that later.

CBC News has been travelling to many small towns across Alberta, hosting conversations about local successes and challenges. Highways have come up often — a boon to businesses and tourism, but also a safety concern.

Nanton has a lone peace officer tasked with handling traffic violations. Handley describes him as “ruthless.”

“We are now getting to be known as — you don’t speed through Nanton, cause you’re going to get caught,” Handley said. 

Claresholm recently hired a peace officer of its own to crack down on speeders.

Unlike Nanton, Claresholm has a traffic light — in fact, the lone traffic light on Highway 2 right up to Edmonton.

Nanton is in talks with Alberta Transportation about putting a traffic light up near the candy shop, having previously conducted a feasibility study some years ago. Right now, there’s a pedestrian crossing light.

Neil Smith, the town’s chief administrative officer, said the number of pedestrians crossing — combined with the increasing issue of speeders — makes a traffic light all the more necessary.

“Over the years, I’ve grown progressively concerned at the lack of concern some drivers have for the public in Nanton. I mean, they must know they’re driving through a town, yet they don’t respect that,” Smith said. 

Ultimately, Smith said it will be up to the province to approve it, and they are likely going to study the proposal in the summer.

He hopes that helps their cause, since that last study was done in the winter, which does not see the same volume of traffic.

“The summer traffic terrifies me,” Smith said.

His office faces the southbound portion of Highway 2, and he said he sometimes keeps a nervous eye outside his window during those months. 

That threat of something happening — even if it hasn’t come to pass — can be enough to cause concern. 

Rob Vogt, editor of the Claresholm Local Press, said the possibility of a hazmat spill comes up among residents. So does the worry that a crash could one day damage the town’s cenotaph, a rare monument to have located adjacent to a highway. 

“These aren’t things that are expressed daily, but that do come up over time,” Vogt said.

He recalled a story he heard from a local woman some years ago who counted 200 trucks passing through the highway in town in about a 10-minute span. Nanton’s mayor estimates 5,000 vehicles pass through daily.

And while noise complaints come up, as they did with that concerned citizen’s letter to Claresholm council, it’s “part and parcel” of living on a highway, Claresholm Mayor Brad Schlossberger said.

“If you live in a town where there’s a railway and the trains are going through, that’s louder than truckers using their retarder brakes,” he said. Policing noise violations on the highway would be another thing that falls to provincial responsibility.

For restaurants and retail establishments, direct highway access brings a steady stream of visitors.

Roy’s Place is located right on the highway in Claresholm and has been serving up meals for decades.

June An took over as manager last year, and said there can be drawbacks to the location, like traffic sending rocks flying off the highway that chip windows.

But the benefits, to her, far outweigh that.

“Being on the highway, it’s very cool, because you don’t know who’s going to come through the doors,” An said.

That includes truckers, families from across southern Alberta using Claresholm as a halfway point, or day trippers who might recognize the restaurant from having visited years ago. The wide array of patrons is part of what drew An to the restaurant.  

“I want us to be that face that feels familiar, you know, even if it’s your first time here,” An said.

She’s made some changes since taking the reins, including renovating the lounge. A new patio is in the works. Liquor is now on the menu, something An said is helping boost sales. 

But one thing she didn’t dare change was the giant cinnamon buns the restaurant is known and loved for. 

The Candy Store in Nanton, where that traffic light might someday stand, is another popular must-stop for tourists right along the highway.

The store’s general manager, Claudia Smith, said it doesn’t hurt that the store is a memorable shade of purple, drawing in visitors to shop their wide variety of candy, ice cream, antiques, puzzles and board games.

But business owners also want to see more visitors pull over and explore further into town, past the highway.

“That’s always a challenge, right, is what signage can we put up? What are we allowed to put up?” said Becky Scott, president of the Nanton Chamber of Commerce and owner of Tap Town Books.

“Because it is a provincial highway, to draw people into town, but not overwhelm them with a ton of signage.”

Scott estimates three quarters of her customers are out-of-towners, and while traffic is steady, it can ebb and flow depending on the weather and highway conditions.

In Claresholm, Schlossberger sees even more opportunity for roadside businesses. The problem is, even if the land is cheap to buy, it would need to be remediated, and he doesn’t think developers are looking to pick up that tab. 

“We have many brownfield sites along the highway which are commercial frontage, which are highway frontage, which we could develop in a heartbeat, but nobody will clean those sites up,” Schlossberger said. 

Schlossberger said the town has grown significantly in recent years, largely due to higher levels of immigration.

He’s happy to see more people call Claresholm home, and thinks even more people would be inclined to do so.

But he said the housing crunch and lagging infrastructure — much like in other towns and cities across Canada — holds them back.

This year, construction work will begin on the first stage of realignment of Highway 3 in Fort Macleod, twinning the westbound and eastbound lanes of a section of that highway.

The plan, ultimately, is to have both lanes of Highway 3 bypass the town, but the town’s mayor, Brent Feyter, cautions it’s not happening anytime soon and is likely still decades away.

He said as time goes on, and traffic volumes increase, eventually it will become too dangerous to have a major highway running through a town.

“I think if our community can embrace the eventuality of a bypass, it’s going to be a lot easier than if we fight it. Because at some point, we’re going to be asking for it,” Feyter said.

Others are less on board when it comes to talk of bypasses.

In the late 2000s, the province put together reports looking at redesigns to have Highway 2 bypass Nanton and Claresholm.

In Claresholm, Vogt said a number of public meetings and town halls were held, with residents expressing thoughts and concerns. 

“At the time, quite a lot of the business owners in particular were wondering, ‘What do we do now?’” Vogt said.  

Losing that highway traffic would mean losing customers and visitors who might not otherwise stop. Add to that the cost of making it happen.

“With our $6 billion deficit at the provincial level, I don’t see them wanting to spend millions and millions on bypasses,” Schlossberger said. 

In Nanton, Handley is happy to see any talk of a bypass far on the backburner.

“Anytime it’s the opportunity to talk to our provincial representatives, especially in transportation, I check in and see what the status is. It’s not on anyone’s desk or anyone’s priority, and ideally we can keep it there,” she said. 

“We prefer that highway traffic. We get people stopping.”