6th Ave Downtown closure; which do you prefer?

[FireFly]

Due to the construction of the Encana tower, 6th Ave downtown will need to be closed. So apparently the options are to have 6th Ave closed completely for one year, or partially for two. Either way, what a nightmare! Obviously this will be a large issue with traffic downtown, so for those who drive there, which would you prefer?

Does anyone know where exactly it's going? Would people coming in from the East have enough room to move over to 4th before construction? (It is 4th right?)

What do you think is best and why? Can we maybe have a poll?

[rubecube]

Sure makes me happy I only have to take one bus to work these days.

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by FireFly

Due to the construction of the Encana tower, 6th Ave downtown will need to be closed. So apparently the options are to have 6th Ave closed completely for one year, or partially for two. Either way, what a nightmare! Obviously this will be a large issue with traffic downtown, so for those who drive there, which would you prefer?

Does anyone know where exactly it's going? Would people coming in from the East have enough room to move over to 4th before construction? (It is 4th right?)

What do you think is best and why? Can we maybe have a poll?

Its already been decided as of last week I thought, closed for 9.5 months minimum, 12 monts max. Construction starts as soon as the last float in the parade has passed.

From what I have heard, the reasoning for full closuer the the 1300 sport parkade they are building, they are doing at least part of it under 6th Ave.

MYK

[ken0042]

My Express bus takes that route. I would say close 1/2 of it for 2 years; and make that leg a "car pool" route to prevent a bottleneck. If you take away the only one person cars then that significantly reduces the numbers going through there.

[psicodude]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Its already been decided as of last week I thought, closed for 9.5 months minimum, 12 monts max. Construction starts as soon as the last float in the parade has passed.

From what I have heard, the reasoning for full closuer the the 1300 sport parkade they are building, they are doing at least part of it under 6th Ave.

MYK

I thought that is what the sub committee recommended, and it was going to council today. Either way, it sounds like a mostly done deal. They need to get moving on the Glenmore causeway construction!

[Table 5]

Closing it for the least amount of time is the only sane option. Trying to drag it out over 2 years will cause way more headaches. It's akin to ripping off a bandage as opposed to doing a pull, it might hurt a little more, but in the end you are always happy you did it.

Besides, Calgarians adapted for the Centre St bridge closure. Let's do it right for Encana.

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by ken0042

My Express bus takes that route. I would say close 1/2 of it for 2 years; and make that leg a "car pool" route to prevent a bottleneck. If you take away the only one person cars then that significantly reduces the numbers going through there.

I think most buses will end up back on 7th again, a few will likely go to 4th.

And no, it hasn't been decided. It's at council today.

[Madman]

Calgary Roads said that if 6th is closed totally, that they will have lane reversals for buses and retime the lights to try and accomodate traffic.

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Its already been decided as of last week I thought, closed for 9.5 months minimum, 12 monts max. Construction starts as soon as the last float in the parade has passed.

From what I have heard, the reasoning for full closuer the the 1300 sport parkade they are building, they are doing at least part of it under 6th Ave.

MYK

Yes, they're putting part of the parkade under 6th. That thing is going to need a massive parkade, they need all the room they can get.

[Barnes]

The closure is 6th ave with the regis, york, cups etc on the south block and the impark lot to the north. The hole will be 6 1/2 stories deep and the 1 year closure will likely pass. There will be lane reversals and the lights will be re-timed. 6 ave will be a mess, especially if Imperial builds on their lot on 6th and FCC 2 goes ahead. The Bow is worth it though.

[PsYcNeT]

1 year closure.

I refuse to drive downtown anyhow, despite Calgary's transit being sub-par, transit leading to downtown however is not.

The Bow looks phenomenally good for Calgary anyhow (woohoo! 1 less concrete building to stare at...)

[Resolute 14]

Close it down entirely and get it done.

I believe the idea is that they would re-route 5th Ave into a two way street for a while to accomodate the closure. So, the choice is either two lanes getting into downtown for one year, or two lanes getting into downtown for two years.

Depending on traffic patterns at rushour, they could even do a 1-3 with lane reversals. Either way, I think closing it entirely is the best option.

I remember when this was first brought up, CFCN did one of their web polls, with three options:
1. Close it entirely for one year
2. Partially close it for two years
3. Close it entirely, but only at night.

Natrually, everyone picked the third option. Naturally, nobody understood how completely impossible that option is.

[TurnedTheCorner]

I'd opt for it being closed entirely. One of the Aldermen mentioned that the city survivied through the closure of the Centre street and Louise bridges - the 6th Ave closure should be relatively minor in comparison.

Get it done ASAP.

[Wookie]

From which street to which street??

I go home via 6th ave coming out of my parkade off 5th st. between 5th ave and 6th ave.

[ken0042]

You are way past it then, Wookie. IIRC it is between 1 st SE and Centre st.

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by Snakeeye

I remember when this was first brought up, CFCN did one of their web polls, with three options:
1. Close it entirely for one year
2. Partially close it for two years
3. Close it entirely, but only at night.

Natrually, everyone picked the third option. Naturally, nobody understood how completely impossible that option is.

They didn't have "Build the whole building off-site and airlift it in" as one of the options? That would seem to be the most convenient solution. As long as they can airlift it in at night.

[Shazam]

They should put a ramp that allows you to jump over the construction with your car. Yee haw!

[FlamesAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Madman

Calgary Roads said that if 6th is closed totally, that they will have lane reversals for buses and retime the lights to try and accomodate traffic.

They should also take parking out on roads like 4th & 11th aves to make them a lane wider on either side. Lane reversals are a must as well. Still, gonna be pretty bad downtown with no 6th avenue.

Oh and just get it over with and close it fully for one year. Having it partially open will still have a bad effect on traffic anyways...

[ZDogg]

Originally Posted by octothorp

They didn't have "Build the whole building off-site and airlift it in" as one of the options? That would seem to be the most convenient solution. As long as they can airlift it in at night.

Haha. I like this option!

But seriously they are doing that just to put a parkade under 6th Ave? Seems like a real headache to get some extra parking.... how about you build a parkade in each quadrant of the city and provide shuttle buses for those high price execs...

What's going to happen with all the utilities that run through that area?? Send them back through the parkade? hmm.

[Madman]

Originally Posted by ZDogg

What's going to happen with all the utilities that run through that area?? Send them back through the parkade? hmm.

They are going wireless.