Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay Random
That, and hearing the same voice every time I tried to get on or off the Deerfoot between Blackfoot and McKnight.
At one point in the 1970s, I read an article in the Herald about the design of this wonderful new freeway, which stressed the point that all the interchanges had been designed by the city's own engineering staff. It seemed pretty clear to me that these were the same geniuses who did the Bow/Crow No-Flow, a.k.a. Malfunction Junction. For one thing, they liked to break the standard rules of interchange design in the same ways, such as having on-ramps enter from the left, and having through lanes suddenly turn into exits. And my personal favourite, putting multiple stoplights smack in the middle of a multi-level interchange.
By contrast, all the interchanges on Stoney Trail, and on the new section of Deerfoot (south of 22X), were built by the provincial government, and built to international engineering standards. The contrast is breathtaking. If I get to drive on Stoney Trail whilst running errands, and then have to take Malfunction Junction to get home to Bankview, it brings tears to my eyes and $*@&! to my lips.
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- Design standards for roads were way different in the 1970s than they were in the 90s-00s. Things like left entrances and cloverleafs were all the rage 40 years ago, and they are both frowned upon in design now.
- The Crowchild/Bow/Memorial interchange was purposely built with no future expansion in mind to save money. Blame the policy makers on limiting us now, not the designers. They had a tough task there with limited funding. The one thing I think everyone can agree on is the lane balance through there is terrible.
- Stop lights on a "multi-level interchange" (Interchange already implies grade separation, multi-level would be more than 1 bridge level like Stoney/Deerfoot) are fine. The high cost of adding flyover ramps to support turning movements are usually not worth it just to keep the cross street traffic free flowing.
- Deerfoot and Stoney are designed to Canadian standards, not International. The Transportation Association of Canada's Geometric Design Guide is the basis for Alberta Transportation's design standards.