Mayhem on 14th Street SW - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

MacDougalbry · 08-31-2006, 08:54 AM

Am I the only one who got stung by the closure of 14th Street by Rockyview Hospital this morning? Apparently, some semi hit the pedestrian overpass last night. No word on when it will be reopened.

Claeren · 08-31-2006, 11:04 AM

I was stuck in it and i was travelling SOUTH bound!!

I needed to get into Southport and all of the cross-bound routes were obviously gridlocked.

I saw the pedestrian overpass that was hit. Stupid semi hit it so hard that it is barely holding on. Only like 2cm stood between it staying put and crashing to the ground. They did HAVE to close 14th St N.

14th St. S was fine though, the overpass was untouched.

Claeren.

GoinAllTheWay · 08-31-2006, 11:13 AM

Yep, I got snared in that as well. I'm kind of embarrased as I take that route every day but what pedestrian bridge? Only one I can think of is the one south of Southland.

BTW-I heard it would be closed until 3pm today as per the radio.

Robbob · 08-31-2006, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

Yep, I got snared in that as well. I'm kind of embarrased as I take that route every day but what pedestrian bridge? Only one I can think of is the one south of Southland.

BTW-I heard it would be closed until 3pm today as per the radio.

There is one by the hospital which I'm assuming is the one that got hit.

Claeren · 08-31-2006, 02:12 PM

That is correct, just before the Rockyview Hospital entrance there is a long pedestrian overpass. It is easily hefty enough that if it fell it would certainly pulverize anything in its path...

Claeren.

looooob · 08-31-2006, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Claeren

That is correct, just before the Rockyview Hospital entrance there is a long pedestrian overpass. It is easily hefty enough that if it fell it would certainly pulverize anything in its path...

Claeren.

walked that overpass ten thousand times

haven't been there today, but can only imagine...what a mess

@theCBE · 08-31-2006, 03:23 PM

Its brutal.. i work at the rockyview (well hangout on calgarypuck at the rockyview) and we have to park at heritage park.. and get shuttled into work.
I walked from heritage to the hosptial and still made it 10 minutes before the shuttle bus..

and whoever said it was only going to be closed until 3 .. we just got a call from someone who just left work and they said its still a parking lot out there. I hope you are right but i seriously doubt it.. apparently they are talking about having to bring down the whole bridge.. which would mean both directions of 14th will be closed.

V · 08-31-2006, 03:27 PM

That's one hell of a slowdown for the driver. The guy was probably doing about 80 km/h (it's 70 there, isn't it?) and when he hit that bridge I imagine he came to a complete stop pretty much instantly. I guess he was wearing his seatbelt or we would have heard about him getting killed.

How did the guy make it through the traffic signals, though? Is the ped bridge lower than the signals?? I guess it must be.

KevanGuy · 08-31-2006, 03:28 PM

Here is the latest as at 2:00pm today...

Northbound 14 Street S.W. between Heritage Drive S.W. and 75
Avenue S.W. is closed for emergency repair work to the
pedestrian bridge over 14 Street. The pedestrian bridge was
struck and significantly damaged on Wednesday night by a
truck towing a back hoe.

Crews have been working quickly and safely to secure the
bridge. Support pillars are now in place and the two right
lanes of northbound 14 Street S.W. between Heritage Drive
S.W. and 75 Avenue S.W. are expected to be open by the end of
the day today.

FFR · 08-31-2006, 04:04 PM

2 North bound lanes are now open....but everything is still insanely backed up

Five-hole · 08-31-2006, 04:30 PM

Is this affecting Glenmore in that area?

I appreciate the information if it is.

@theCBE · 08-31-2006, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dominicwasalreadytaken

That's one hell of a slowdown for the driver. The guy was probably doing about 80 km/h (it's 70 there, isn't it?) and when he hit that bridge I imagine he came to a complete stop pretty much instantly.

He didnt' stop.. there is a big chunk taken out of the bridge from one side to the other.

They did open up two lanes and at about 4:30 the traffic was not too bad, glenmore was actually flowing better than normal.. westbound that is.

Resolute 14 · 08-31-2006, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Five-hole

Is this affecting Glenmore in that area?

I appreciate the information if it is.

East-West roads seemed to be just busier.

Elbow was a gong show all day long, and MacLeod had significant traffic increases.

I couldnt believe how bad Elbow was though. It was backed up from Glenmore to Southland all day long.

LockedOut · 09-01-2006, 02:32 AM

Glad I live and work in the north. The south is just brutal for driving whenever I go down that way for anything at anytime. All it takes is one broken down car to block a lane of traffic on Glenmore to mess up traffic for kilometers down several different roads.

icarus · 09-01-2006, 05:33 AM

This brings back memories about about five or so years ago when a semi drove into the pedestrian overpass on south Crowchild, near Glenmore. Gotta watch out for those pedestrian overpasses! They just pop outta nowhere.

GoinAllTheWay · 09-01-2006, 09:19 AM

Drove under the bridge this morning, man did buddy clock that thing but good. Two huge gouges going right through it and the entire right hand side of the bridge is hanging by a thread. I don't see how they aren't going to have to take it down.

looooob · 09-01-2006, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

Drove under the bridge this morning, man did buddy clock that thing but good. Two huge gouges going right through it and the entire right hand side of the bridge is hanging by a thread. I don't see how they aren't going to have to take it down.

it talks about it in the paper today

it is coming down...but not for a while . a new bridge will need to be built and then put in place in 2007

not sure if they are going to try and keep the other one standing in the meantime

the 250K cost is covered by buddy's insurance

Reaper · 09-01-2006, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by looooob

it talks about it in the paper today

it is coming down...but not for a while . a new bridge will need to be built and then put in place in 2007

not sure if they are going to try and keep the other one standing in the meantime

the 250K cost is covered by buddy's insurance

The damaged bridge is actually coming down tonight when they close 14th Street at 9 pm for about 6 hours. There will be a significant wait for the new bridge as it will have to be designed and then there will be the backlog of orders with most precast concrete manufacturers. That would suck for those people who used it every day.

looooob · 09-01-2006, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reaper

The damaged bridge is actually coming down tonight when they close 14th Street at 9 pm for about 6 hours. There will be a significant wait for the new bridge as it will have to be designed and then there will be the backlog of orders with most precast concrete manufacturers. That would suck for those people who used it every day.

no kidding. it's not a crucial footbridge I guess (there is an intersection at 14th and 75th, although its not exactly ped friendly.

GoinAllTheWay · 09-01-2006, 12:10 PM

So was it just a standard tractor trailer that smoked it? I'm assuming it was the trailer and not the truck itself that hit it but what the heck do they make those trailers out of? To move that much conrete like that it would have to have been hit by a pretty solid piece of metal. Those standard trailers strike me as being somewhat flimsy, kinda thought that would have torn the top of the trailer off and done minimal damage to the bridge.