Airdrie Minute: Street Sweeping, eScooter Program, and a Fire Station Update

Airdrie Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Airdrie politics

This Week In Airdrie:

• The Community and Corporate Services Standing Committee will meet on Tuesday at 9:00 am. The agenda includes a presentation on the Disability Awareness Fair being held on May 22nd, 2025, a summary of the public engagement results regarding the SW Recreation Centre site master plan, an update on the planned services for Inspire, and information on the Veterans crosswalk.
  
  
• Also on Tuesday, at 1:00 pm, the Community Infrastructure and Strategic Growth Standing Committee will meet. The agenda features two key items: final development plans for 915 Bayview Rise SW and the launch of the Airdrie on the Move Active Transportation and Micromobility Plan. The proposed Bayview development includes 69 townhouse units with updated landscaping along 24th Street. The transportation plan sets out a strategy to expand Airdrie’s commuter pathways for bikes, scooters, and pedestrians, without reducing existing vehicle lanes.
  
  
• The City is set to begin residential street sweeping on April 29th. Residents are encouraged to move their vehicles and rubber curb ramps off the roads to allow crews to clean paved residential streets. Large orange signs will mark entrances to neighbourhoods, reminding residents to clear the streets or risk being towed and ticketed. The City will use a tag and tow program again this year.

Last Week In Airdrie:

• The construction start date for Airdrie's fourth fire station, the Highland Park Fire Station and Training Centre, has been set for May, with the official groundbreaking ceremony scheduled for May 12th. The facility, designed to last for 50 years, will feature a four-storey burn tower, an integrated Emergency Coordination Centre, and dual-use training areas. Fire Chief Mike Pirie highlighted the station's focus on durability, firefighter health, and functionality. The new station aims to address emergency coverage gaps in Airdrie's northeast quadrant and is expected to open in November 2026, with staffing to begin in 2026. Cost-saving measures, such as dual-purpose rooms and reduced asphalt surfaces, were also incorporated into the design.
  
  
• After hearing the results of the e-scooter pilot program, Council has decided that the program will now be offered permanently. The pilot, which ran from 2022 to 2024, involved two providers - Bird Canada and Neuron Mobility - and featured 200 e-scooters available for use within the city. Over the course of the pilot, riders took 116,242 trips and traveled a total of 299,325 kilometers. While the program was largely successful, issues such as improper parking and safety concerns were addressed through educational campaigns and requiring service providers to offer helmets. In 2025, the number of scooters will be reduced to 175, and an additional per-trip fee to improve pathways is under consideration.
  
  
• Mayor Peter Brown said he was disheartened after the United Conservative Party expelled MLA Peter Guthrie from caucus. Guthrie, who had served as Airdrie-Cochrane’s representative since 2019, was removed after repeatedly criticizing the UCP’s handling of the healthcare contract scandal. Guthrie had resigned from his cabinet post in February and continued to speak out, accusing the government of obstructing investigations. He remains in the Legislature as an Independent. Mayor Brown expressed concern that Airdrie lost one of its provincial voices and urged the government not to forget the city's needs.