High River residents may be sick and tired at looking at these signs but Mayor Craig Snodgrass says in the end today's pain will be worth the gain. Photo - Russell Skeet.

High River Mayor Craig Snodgrass and the rest of Town Council are still taking a lot of heat from residents regarding their plans for downtown, parking and road repairs.

Snodgrass says it's better to endure some short term pain for long term gain.

"I'd rather take a year or two, possibly three, of aggressive construction and get it done. And have it out of the way, rather than just constantly picking away at a little bit every year. There's detours, there's road closures. It's all over town, but for good reason. None of this stuff is just because we feel like closing a road, which is actually what some people think it is, but most people understand that's not the case."

He says they really can't scale anything back and with a short construction season every year they need to get done as much as possible during the spring and summer months.

He adds it's just too important to get all this work done and they can't afford to do it over 10 years.

Snodgrass says much of the work is flood related, but some is also just maintenance that would need to be done anyway.

As for the downtown parking issues, Snodgrass says the environment created in the past by catering to vehicles downtown does not support businesses that rely on foot traffic.

"If you cater to people. It provides the atmosphere in an area that's people friendly and people want to be. That's what brings people down, which creates foot traffic, which supports your restaurants. Which supports your retail. Not just those who will succeed regardless of the way downtown is designed, which is Doctors, Dentists, Lawyers, Banks etc."

Snodgrass says by making downtown more attractive to residents, it will be more attractive to businesses that will be more sustainable.