County Briefs: Cypress County will request meeting with transportation minister

By ANNA SMITH Local Journalism Initiative on September 18, 2024.

asmith@medicinehatnews.com

Cypress County council moved Tuesday to request a meeting with the Minister of Transportation & Economic Corridors.

While councillors noted that transportation priorities have not shifted significantly since they were last asked for by MLA Justin Wright, it was pointed out by Coun. Robin Kurpjuweit that the more often they are able to express and communicate those priorities, the better it is for the county should they be selected for the meeting.

This was seconded by Coun. Shake Hok, bringing up recent changes to the Highway 3 twinning design in regards to Grassy Lake following some consultation.

The priorities for this meeting were given to administration as Highway 41 S. widening, STIP funding and Highway 3 twinning, and to potentially discuss various water projects the county is working on.

Welcome Centre a growing success

A report at season’s end for the Cypress County Welcome Centre was also given Tuesday, with the centre continuing to see growing success.

Communications co-ordinator Sean Rooney says this year was similar to last year, however due to the addition of accepting cash, they have more than doubled the amount of sales made.

The Badlands Boutique continues to be a success, said Rooney, with more vendors interested in partnering and having their wares in the centre. The sale of printed maps has also been a positive, though Rooney added it was unfortunate the province doesn’t print its own maps anymore.

The centre saw a total of 5,475 visitors this year.

“Pretty much the same number of people we had in 2023, but more sales, lots of positive comments from the public and visitors coming through, saying that we’re meeting a need,” said Rooney. “Excellent staff. I just let them to do the job for the most part, and I think they do a great job.”

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