Calgary Roads

[M II A II R II K]

Thread to talk about Calgary roads.

[feepa]

The deerfoot is always clogged and congested.

[Riise]

Originally Posted by feepa

The deerfoot is always clogged and congested.

Is is better or worse than Deerfoot?

[frinkprof]

Nevermind.

[freeweed]

You guys allergic to the word "Trail"?

[frinkprof]

Nevermind.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by frinkprof

^Well I was poking fun at the use of the colloquialism "the Deerfoot."

But then you have to be consistent. No one likes a half-ass pedant.

[KrisYYC]

Nice to see a thread about roads!

-Does anybody know why Northbound Deerfoot speed limit slows down to 80km/h right after the Calf Robe bridge? I know there was roadworks being done there a while back but I haven't seen any work being done for months.

-Elbow drive desperately needs to be repaved
-McKnight Blvd desperately needs to be repaved

-Where do you think the next big interchange project will be? (Exlcluding the Ring Road) I'd say MacLeod and Heritage Dr.

-Why are Calgary traffic engineers so in love with traffic lights and 4 way stops? Especially traffic lights at "interchanges". Defeats the whole purpose.

-I'd like to see some tinkering with the traffic light programming and synchronization to help traffic flow. Some of the lights are ridiculous. If you do the speed limit on MacLeod you'll hit nearly every damn red light. Go 20km/h over the limit and it's smooth sailing.

/rant

[srperrycgy]

Now that the ground is starting to thaw, potholes are beginning to apppear in a few places. This beauty at 23rd Ave @ 31st ST SW was created by the City when they did some work in the winter. Now that it's warmer, it has sunk about a foot.

[KrisYYC]

Originally Posted by srperrycgy

Now that the ground is starting to thaw, potholes are beginning to apppear in a few places. This beauty at 23rd Ave @ 31st ST SW was created by the City when they did some work in the winter. Now that it's warmer, it has sunk about a foot.

Jeeeeesus.

There's one pothole on McKnight that the city keeps repaving over and over. They'll fix it and literally 3 days later it's back again. I think the high amount of heavy truck traffic doesn't help.

[korzym]

Originally Posted by srperrycgy

Now that the ground is starting to thaw, potholes are beginning to apppear in a few places. This beauty at 23rd Ave @ 31st ST SW was created by the City when they did some work in the winter. Now that it's warmer, it has sunk about a foot.

There's a nice on at the base of the stampede lrt west stairwell, very similar. It's probably 3 times deeper than the one in your pic, this is no exaggeration. It has 4 road markers around it, a bunch of pylons. If you were to put the same warning post in the middle, it probably would just barely stick out.

[lubicon]

Memorial Drive project to test vehicle-free Sundays


Last Updated: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 | 9:20 AM MT CBC News

Ald. Druh Farrell wants to test closing several blocks of Memorial Drive to vehicles to create a promenade for pedestrians and cyclists. Pedestrians and cyclists will have free reign over Memorial Drive on Sundays if a Calgary alderman's test project to turn part of the street into a promenade works out, CBC News has learned.

Ald. Druh Farrell, whose ward includes Hillhurst-Sunnyside, is proposing to close the two lanes of Memorial Drive from 10th Street N.W. to the curling club on 3rd Street on Sundays in August.

The other two lanes of Memorial Drive would be turned into two-way traffic for vehicles

"It's getting people active. We have a very successful pathway system. It's giving people a little bit more room in an urban area," Farrell told CBC News. "It's taking back the street for one day a week in the summer."

Details still need to be ironed out, but the pilot project will likely happen over a few Sundays in August, she said.

"We're choosing low traffic days, and certainly Sundays — it's a day where people like to get out and recreate — and this an area that needs a little bit more space for that."

Businesses, community welcome idea
Citing successful pedestrian projects on busy streets in Ottawa, New York City and Europe, Farrell said she envisions people enjoying the waterfront on foot, bicycle, and in-line skates.

Annie MacInnis, executive director of the Kensington Business Revitalization Zone, which represents businesses in the district, hopes people taking advantage of the promenade will stop by stores and restaurants in the area.

"We're thrilled that the city is thinking of ways to help these small shopping districts thrive in these hard times," she said.

The Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Association welcomed the idea that would open access to the river.

"Making that a central hub if the right of way were to be … across Hillhurst-Sunnyside would be a great opportunity to draw people in," said David White, chair of group's planning committee.

If successful, the promenade could be expanded into Bridgeland and Chinatown, said Farrell.

"Because of the improvements we're doing on Memorial Drive and it's looking very nice, it just made a perfect fit," she said. "It will be a lot of fun."

[Stang]

Originally Posted by lubicon

[B]Memorial Drive project to test vehicle-free Sundays

I'd be willing to give it a look, however I think that there would need to be more of a draw than just a big stretch of pavement to wander on. Street musicians, market stands, etc. would be kind of neat.

When I was in Frankfurt a few weeks ago they had a street right in the core that was shut down on Friday night and market (mostly food) merchants were opening up - presumably for the weekend. Probably hundreds of merchants, all in trailers, etc. It was definitely a city-sanctioned thing as the electrical and water lines were neatly covered and everything was well organized. Lots of people snouting around too.

Not saying we should try and over-do it, but a few things to keep people's interest would make be good.

[feepa]

Comedy knows no ends here folks... Lighten up a bit Riise

[Riise]

Originally Posted by KrisYYC

-Why are Calgary traffic engineers so in love with traffic lights and 4 way stops? Especially traffic lights at "interchanges". Defeats the whole purpose.

I'd love to see the Roads Department develop some sort of procedure to determine the feasibility of installing roundabouts/traffic-circles.

Originally Posted by feepa

Comedy knows no ends here folks... Lighten up a bit Riise

I was just poking fun of your use of the word "the". I find it funny when people call it "The Deerfoot".

[Koolfire]

Originally Posted by Riise

I'd love to see the Roads Department develop some sort of procedure to determine the feasibility of installing roundabouts/traffic-circles.

I wonder how practical it would be to convert 16th Ave and Deerfoot interchange to a hybrid roundabout? If you had a 4 lane East-West flyover and then reconfigured the lanes on the bridges it might work. And it would be pretty cheap as there wouldn't be much earth moving and the elevations on each side would work to your advantage.

[MichaelS]

Originally Posted by Riise

I'd love to see the Roads Department develop some sort of procedure to determine the feasibility of installing roundabouts/traffic-circles.

I think this is being looked at, although more by Transportation Planning than by Roads I believe. Roundabouts are great for moving traffic at low volume intersections, however if the degree of saturation rises above 0.85, they basically fall over (metaphorically, or course). So they would be a good thing at smaller, neighbourhood intersections instead of a set of lights. But you will never see a roundabout replace something like MacLeod and Anderson.

[Riise]

Originally Posted by Koolfire

I wonder how practical it would be to convert 16th Ave and Deerfoot interchange to a hybrid roundabout? If you had a 4 lane East-West flyover and then reconfigured the lanes on the bridges it might work. And it would be pretty cheap as there wouldn't be much earth moving and the elevations on each side would work to your advantage.

I saw an intersection similar to this in Spain but I can't remember where it was exactly. I've been searching the Costa Del Sol area in Google Earth in an attempt to get an image but haven't had any success.

Originally Posted by MichaelS

So they would be a good thing at smaller, neighbourhood intersections instead of a set of lights. But you will never see a roundabout replace something like MacLeod and Anderson.

Oh yeah, of course. I was thinking about situations like 4-way stops and non-regulated intersections in rez neighbourhoods, as well as, smaller yet busy intersections in other areas. However, seeing a roundabout with lights being placed at a major intersection would be interesting.

[frinkprof]

Nevermind.

[mersar]

Yeah, this winter has been really bad for potholes. The city has been pretty good about fixing the ones on Crowchild, but the ones I've learned to keep on eye are are the ones in parking lots. Coming out the north end of Market Mall theres a huge one, and theres another in the west lot at McMahon thats nearly the width of my car now and getting worse. Out in Cochrane a lot of the roads are badly damaged, the town for the past decade has been taking the easy way out of fixing issues by just tarring over the cracks to the extent that in soem places the strip of tar is 2+ feet wide, and this winter the pavement has just fallen apart. Theres one stretch down from my house that is almost like driving on a gravel road now, fortunately I believe its on the 'to be repaved' list for this year anyways.