Quote:
Originally Posted by mersar
One other segment, although its not officially designated as TCH (yet), that will make a major difference to the overall system is the ring road around Calgary. The northern part should be complete late next year, allowing for traffic to loop around the north side of the city instead of having to go through the city, part of which is a 50km/h undivided road. I wouldn't be surprised if the ring road (highway 201) is added once its done, similar to how highway 100 around the south side of Winnipeg was given TCH designation.
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The city of Calgary has made some improvements to 16 Ave, including widening a 16 block section from 4 lanes undivided to 6 lanes with a centre median - the main issue is there are still 26 signalized interesections through Calgary. While Stoney Trail (Hwy 201) will provide a bypass route, unlike Winnipeg there is a signifant increase in driving distance which may eliminate any time savings when going through the city.
Consider that in Winnipeg the distance between the TCH 1/100 east & west junctions is 30 km via TCH 1 and 40 km via TCH 100 (bypass route) - the bypass is an extra 10 km however it is still a faster route.
Now consider that in Calgary the distance between TCH 1/201 east & west junctions is 22 km via TCH 1 (16 Avenue) and approx 40 km via Hwy 201 (bypass route when complete) - the bypass is almost double the length through the city. Even if there is a small time savings, the average driver will see the significant extra distance and likely stick to 16 Ave.
The Trans Canada Highway should still go through Calgary, as opposed to around Calgary, so what I propose is to reroute Hwy 1 through Calgary via Sarcee & Glenmore Trails which are existing expressways through the city. While there are still 11 signalized intersections, sufficient ROW exists to replace all of them with interchanges. Extend the Glenmore Trail freeway east of Calgary and construct a NE/SW connector to reconnect with the current TCH east of Chestermere.
If a Glenmore extension was constructed, approx distances between Stoney Trail W & Hwy 9 (further east of the city) would be:
- 42 km via 16 Avenue N
- 49 km via Glenmore Trail/Sarcee Trail (approx, depending on alignment)
- 60 km via Stoney Trail
I've attached a map for your reference.
Any thoughts?