The Town of Langdon is working towards enhancing the visual appeal of the community. 

In a Rocky View County (RVC) meeting earlier this month, council approved a $310,000 expenditure from the RVC Road Program Reserve to improve and beautify the landscape along Langdon's Centre Street. 

Back in 2020, Centre Street in Langdon underwent construction, and the road was expanded to a four-lane cross section from Highway 560 to Railway Avenue. 

Since then, the town has struggled to establish grass due to “the high content of clay mixed with gravel with a high salt content,” as stated in the council report. 

In 2023, the town attempted to amend the soil with imported topsoil and seeding. 

According to the report, “some improvements were realized successfully in the fall, but full grass catch may still be a gradual process requiring several years to be established.” 

“If you look at Langdon right now, we have spent so much good money on things such as the ball diamonds and a new fire hall. We’ve done many great things within the community, and then people drive down Main Street and see that it’s horrible,” said Councillor Al Shule. 

As a result, the county administration offered two landscaping solutions for Centre Street. 

The first option is a "softscape boulevard and landscaped dry ponds,” which is estimated to cost $310,000. This is what the council decided to go with. 

This option will include adding ornamental Karl Foerster reed grass and short paver sections at curb corners to maintain driving site lines. 

It will also feature two dry ponds along Langdon Park with rock armoring and will be treated with a wildflower seed mix and a selection of ornamental reed grasses.  

The second option that was presented and that the council decided not to go with was a hardscaped boulevard and landscaped dry ponds that were estimated to cost $505,000. 

This option would feature raised planters and a walkway treated with paver stones. 

“This has been going on for about three of four years now. If you look at the picture, there is still nothing growing there,” remarked Schule. 

Some members of the council were apprehensive of the decision and worried if this was a worthy investment or something that would need to be frequently replaced. 

Jeannette Lee of Capital and Engineering Service, who gave the presentation, says there is no guarantee about planting, but they contacted experts to give their opinions. 

“Ornamental grasses come back up every year. You can see how much salt and things we put on the sidewalk, and they still come back. They are very hardy plants. And the same with the wildflowers; they are native to the area. They are supposed to grow, but I can’t guarantee 100%,” Lee said. 

This decision made by RVC is part of the ongoing efforts to beautify Langdon's downtown. 

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