What's with the Traffic in Calgary?

[jammies]

Haha suburban suckers! If you lived downtown, you wouldn't have this issue. Sure, it's tough wading through the bums on my way to crack Mac's for a slushie and a couple vials of the good stuff, but dammit I'm off work at 5 and home by 5:10!

[jayswin]

I know this point has probably been ranted about on CP before, but I experienced it again today and lost it. I drive home from Okotoks each day, so I'm driving whatever road that is that eventually brings you to the Highway 2 overpass, it's a two lane highway where the speed limit is 60 coming out of Okotoks and then immediatly turns to 100.

So there's 2 minivan's in the right hand lane going 60. I'm coming up in the left lane going about 70, when the back minivan see's me coming (and everyone has experienced this where you know DAMN WELL the person sees you coming and purposly pulls into your lane) and pulls in to my lane, and goes just a bit faster than the other minivan, but not enough that she'll ever actually get ahead of the slower minivan. So while the limit is 60, I kept my cool, riding her bumper so she would know that she's pissing me off and would hopefully get out of the way. So then it turns to 100, and they both start inching up their speed at the same god damn time, and after 3 friggen minutes they've both managed to get up to 80, and I just lost it, I blew by her on the shoulder and gave my car a little lurch towards hers (it wasn't as dangerous as it sounds) and then drove about 150 until I reached the city limits, and felt much better. Man I hate pokey drivers that don't know how to get the hell out of the fast lane. It's not your lane damnit!

[Dion]

Originally Posted by flameswin

I know this point has probably been ranted about on CP before, but I experienced it again today and lost it. I drive home from Okotoks each day, so I'm driving whatever road that is that eventually brings you to the Highway 2 overpass, it's a two lane highway where the speed limit is 60 coming out of Okotoks and then immediatly turns to 100.

So there's 2 minivan's in the right hand lane going 60. I'm coming up in the left lane going about 70, when the back minivan see's me coming (and everyone has experienced this where you know DAMN WELL the person sees you coming and purposly pulls into your lane) and pulls in to my lane, and goes just a bit faster than the other minivan, but not enough that she'll ever actually get ahead of the slower minivan. So while the limit is 60, I kept my cool, riding her bumper so she would know that she's pissing me off and would hopefully get out of the way. So then it turns to 100, and they both start inching up their speed at the same god damn time, and after 3 friggen minutes they've both managed to get up to 80, and I just lost it, I blew by her on the shoulder and gave my car a little lurch towards hers (it wasn't as dangerous as it sounds) and then drove about 150 until I reached the city limits, and felt much better. Man I hate pokey drivers that don't know how to get the hell out of the fast lane. It's not your lane damnit!

Try highway 2A into High River at the Aldersyde turnoff. Between the truckers and drivers poking along you get people doing unsafe passing. One driver last monday tried to pass but failed to notice the cattle liner coming the other way. Said driver forced everyone to slam on their brakes so he could get in and not get hit head on.

[REDVAN]

Originally Posted by Dion

Try highway 2A into High River at the Aldersyde turnoff. Between the truckers and drivers poking along you get people doing unsafe passing. One driver last monday tried to pass but failed to notice the cattle liner coming the other way. Said driver forced everyone to slam on their brakes so he could get in and not get hit head on.

If everyone was going the speedlimit then the guy passing was an idiot... but if everyone was going slow they are all in the wrong. SPEED UP. Honestly, if you can't go the speed limit with a few cars on the road, and in perfect weather, then you need to stop driving. It's one thing to go slow in winter when there's gridlock, but in summer when the roads are clear and the sun isn't blinding, GOgogogogogogogog and don't stop.

There's a difference between being cautious, and being scared to drive. Safety doesn't equal slowness and speed is not the devil. Seriously. If you can't go the speed limit on a day like today, when can you? Get off the road if you are afraid.

edit: just to say that I don't think you are unsafe Dion, never seen you drive. Just annoyed at slow people, and dumbasses who do unsafe fast driving.

[chid]

Originally Posted by jammies

Haha suburban suckers! If you lived downtown, you wouldn't have this issue. Sure, it's tough wading through the bums on my way to crack Mac's for a slushie and a couple vials of the good stuff, but dammit I'm off work at 5 and home by 5:10!

I used to love living by the crack Mac's, and walking past the sketchy natives. You're right, suburbia does suck... I dont hear sirens anymore before I go to bed, I honestly just got so used to them it was sort of nice.

[LIP MAN]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Yeah and the fact that they never turn off their right hand turn blinker even if they're turning left is annoying.

I think my biggest problem in this city is 2 things:

1. Slow traffic keep to the right; it's a sign on the deerfoot now for f sakes.

2. When you actually do signal, people think it means you want them to speed up, stay in your blind spot and leave their giant SUV or truck in your blind spot just so you can clearly see their no kyoto, no wheat board sign.

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

Ummmm... maybe not?

18th Street is a gong show now with all you guys shortcutting through my neighborhood. I sometimes can't even turn onto 18th street because you've all got it clogged up from McDonalds right through the community hall.

Not to be a dink but didnt everyone living in these neighbourhoods think they might open that road one day?

[Dion]

Originally Posted by REDVAN

If everyone was going the speedlimit then the guy passing was an idiot... but if everyone was going slow they are all in the wrong. SPEED UP. Honestly, if you can't go the speed limit with a few cars on the road, and in perfect weather, then you need to stop driving. It's one thing to go slow in winter when there's gridlock, but in summer when the roads are clear and the sun isn't blinding, GOgogogogogogogog and don't stop.

There's a difference between being cautious, and being scared to drive. Safety doesn't equal slowness and speed is not the devil. Seriously. If you can't go the speed limit on a day like today, when can you? Get off the road if you are afraid.

edit: just to say that I don't think you are unsafe Dion, never seen you drive. Just annoyed at slow people, and dumbasses who do unsafe fast driving.

You want to speed, REDVAN? Go ahead. Just don't expect everyone to follow what you are doing.

I drive the speed limit because i don't want a photo radar ticket or an actual speeding ticket for that matter. I'd like to keep my insurance rates as they are and don't want them going any higher. Maybe you can afford these high gas prices, i can not.

From my experience those that speed (not saying you REDVAN) for the most part are a danger to everyone else on the road and i'm not talking Deerfoot per say. Unsafe lane changes to get ahead of some other driver. Tailgating because they are frustrated with the speed of traffic. Even worse are the speeders who think they can handle bad weather conditions.

[Nancy]

I don't know that we need to turn this into yet another thread about driving slow in the fast lane. When speaking of rush hour traffic, this isn't the issue anyway. Rarely in rush hour traffic do I get stuck behind someone who has a big gap of traffic in front of them. The problem is traffic volume and infrastructure.

[pepper24]

I personally don't think that traffic isn't that bad in Calgary but growing out not up is the biggest issue IMO. The city needs to curb the growth in the suburbs and focus on downtown and inner city communities. You need to encourage walking/biking to work, mass transit etc. Until then it's only going to get worse.

You can blame slow drivers but that's only a small part to the overall problem.

[SportsJunky]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Living in Cranston, it is faster to take MacLeod to Glenmore and cut over to Deerfoot than it is to simply take Deerfoot in the mornings.

I agree here. Macleod to Glenmore to Deerfoot IMO is more time saving than getting caught in that gawd awful backup on Deerfoot that goes all the way back to 130th most mornings.

[MaxPower]

Originally Posted by Dion

From my experience those that speed (not saying you REDVAN) for the most part are a danger to everyone else on the road and i'm not talking Deerfoot per say. Unsafe lane changes to get ahead of some other driver. Tailgating because they are frustrated with the speed of traffic. Even worse are the speeders who think they can handle bad weather conditions.

I disagree with this, in my experience, speeders are more attentive than the average driver. Granted you still have the occasional massive D-Bag with a primer-colored front fender and a coffee-can muffler weaving through traffic like a drunk, but that guy is a lot more rare than than the butthole talking on his phone who hasn't looked in his mirrors for the last five minutes, or the teenager on their third car who figures that text message is more important than looking at the road.

Then there's still those people that just can't drive. They don't understand why someone might be mad at them after they've been doing 95 in the left on Deerfoot. They signal when they're already in an exit lane with no choice of direction to go and they don't signal when changing lanes. When turning right, they go directly into the left lane and when turning left, they go directly into the right lane. They stop to merge in free-flow lanes. They don't plan their route, when it comes time to turn they have to make an emergency double-lane change. Yet I'm the one with a bunch of demerits on my license for breaking a speed limit that's outdated by a couple decades? Yahoo.

Between these dinks behind the wheel and driver inattentiveness (i.e. including anything phone related), you have the true source of a large majority of traffic accidents. Why don't the laws change to reflect this? Because these dinks and inattentive drivers account for a lot of votes (unfortunately), and votes, not public safety are what matters.

[IntenseFan]

I hear and feel (and experience) everyone's pain re Bow Trail. I actually try to use 17th instead ever since they started that construction.

Unfortunately, it will probably be like this for years since they will be building all over that road during the West C-Train expansion. In fact it might be worse since I suspect one lane on each side at the very least to be closed for 2-3 years while they do this.

BTW: does anyone know when they will actually finish the bridge rehab on Bow Trail? The City site says the end of the month, but I have serious doubts since it's been 5 months and they still haven't finished the South side of the bridge. Don't they have to do the same thing to the North side?

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

Not to be a dink but didnt everyone living in these neighbourhoods think they might open that road one day?

I'm not that naive. But if they're going to cut through my neighborhood, do people also need to be dinks in the process? I've seen drivers block the intersection and crosswalks at 18th Street and Riverglen Drive, causing gridlock because there wasn't enough room on the other side of the lights and they went anyway. There are the speeders and red light runners that are going to run over a 3rd grader one of these days. This morning this lady (and I use the term loosely) honked, gave me the finger and rode my bumper simply because I merged in front of her on a legal and safe right turn. And of course this winter we will discover that the cloverleaf turn from 18th Street onto Glenmore westbound is wholly inadequate for the newly found volume.

Then again the real blame needs to be placed on the Council and ultimately the Roads Department for engineering the gong show that is Deerfoot between Bow Bottom and Glenmore, causing people to have to find alternatives.

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by IntenseFan

BTW: does anyone know when they will actually finish the bridge rehab on Bow Trail? The City site says the end of the month, but I have serious doubts since it's been 5 months and they still haven't finished the South side of the bridge. Don't they have to do the same thing to the North side?

I seem to recall that bridge being rehabbed about 8 years ago also. Maybe its just a POS?

[4X4]

Originally Posted by MaxPower

I disagree with this, in my experience, speeders are more attentive than the average driver. Granted you still have the occasional massive D-Bag with a primer-colored front fender and a coffee-can muffler weaving through traffic like a drunk, but that guy is a lot more rare than than the butthole talking on his phone who hasn't looked in his mirrors for the last five minutes, or the teenager on their third car who figures that text message is more important than looking at the road.

Then there's still those people that just can't drive. They don't understand why someone might be mad at them after they've been doing 95 in the left on Deerfoot. They signal when they're already in an exit lane with no choice of direction to go and they don't signal when changing lanes. When turning right, they go directly into the left lane and when turning left, they go directly into the right lane. They stop to merge in free-flow lanes. They don't plan their route, when it comes time to turn they have to make an emergency double-lane change. Yet I'm the one with a bunch of demerits on my license for breaking a speed limit that's outdated by a couple decades? Yahoo.

Between these dinks behind the wheel and driver inattentiveness (i.e. including anything phone related), you have the true source of a large majority of traffic accidents. Why don't the laws change to reflect this? Because these dinks and inattentive drivers account for a lot of votes (unfortunately), and votes, not public safety are what matters.

Spectacular post. So very, very true. The text messaging thing got me riled up just this morning. Some chick in a white celica on 16th ave (I hope you're reading this you oblivious c-word) is poking along doing 40 and text f-ing messaging at 8:30 in the morning. So I give her the quick double honk and when she looks in her mirror, I give her the 'lets go' hand motion. She looks at me like I'm an alien and gets back to her precious text message.
It's people like that that make me want to pin it and ram in to them.

Then there are the strugglers that slam on the brakes anytime there is a cop in the vicinity. The cop could be going the opposite direction on friggin deerfoot and these tools will hammer the brakes to 10 under the limit. Same thing when the cop already has someone pulled over. What goes through these morons' minds? "OMFG!@!!!! THERE'S A COP!!!!!!!!!!!! HE MIGHT DROP WHAT HE'S DOING AND CHASE ME AND PUT ME IN JAIL UNLESS I SLAM ON MY BRAKES RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!"
######s.
I'm sitting at a light the other day. I'm in the right lane, waiting to turn right, behind a car that is also signalling to turn right. Why didn't the moron in front of me go? There was a cop in the left lane beside us. The guy kept creeping a couple inches at a time... Then aborted the whole idea of turning right on a red and waited until it was green. ARGH....

Then you have the losers that pull up when they see you signalling to get into their lane. Saturday I'm driving down 9th in the right lane. As I approach the Palliser, I see a bus parked in the lane, so I signal to switch a lane and the buttsteak in the lane beside me pins it so that I can't get in front of him. What gives, a-hole? So I turned into Mr. Agressor and started changing lanes anyway. Wanna play chicken? Dick.

Then there was the guy that tried to keep me out of the northbound crowchild traffic just before the bow trail interchange. I came off 17th and went to merge into the bumper to bumper traffic and this guy probably figures I came from all the way back and am trying to jump the line. No way can he conceive that I'm actually coming from 17th and have no choice but to butt in to this wall of traffic. He pulls up and tries to keep me out? Nice try. I will win this battle every time. I will pull in whether you like it or not.

[ken0042]

I still say so much of this comes down to the lack of driver testing and re-testing. The last time I was tested for driving was over 20 years ago. Surely what I was able to do when I was 16 has little or no bearing on my abilities now. Never mind the fact that I took said tests in another province, and I had to do several things on that test that are illegal here:

- I had to show I could safely do a U turn at a traffic light.
- I had to demonstrate a "California Lane Change."
- I had to slow down to 40 for a school zone.

And never mind the fact that I actually went through testing. My dad had to drive the town clerk oround the block to get his license back in the 50's, and my aunt was telling me how she had to get a note from a mechanic to say she could have a license.

And we have such a good system here in Alberta already to allow us to do re-testing. Our licenses are good for 5 years. Why don't they make us re-do the tests to renew our license. One anniversary we do the written test, the next we do the road test. The registries are private so no problem with staffing; if one registry is too busy another one can open up down the road.

[MaxPower]

Originally Posted by flameswin

So there's 2 minivan's in the right hand lane going 60. I'm coming up in the left lane going about 70, when the back minivan see's me coming (and everyone has experienced this where you know DAMN WELL the person sees you coming and purposly pulls into your lane) and pulls in to my lane...

This happens ALL the time driving between Edmonton and Calgary. Unfortunately, I don't think we can even chalk this up to any form of maliciousness, which would piss me off less. Instead it's just the instinct of stupidity. They could be following the other vehicle for miles and miles, but once they see someone coming up behind, something makes them think this is their last chance to pass (even if the road is empty besides the three of you), or possibly they just feel they have to be in front.

I liken it to the situation where two cars are approaching a red light, one behind the other, the other lane is empty. The second car changes lanes to be first in line when the light turns green. Fine by me, I do it all the time, EXCEPT when the idiot who changed lanes goes the same SLOW speed as the guy beside him. Now both lanes are blocked while both idiots drive side-by-side down country hills. Think I'm being overcritical? It says in the drivers manual (the one that people allegedly read before writing their driver's license test) that you are not supposed to drive side-by-side with another vehicle for safety reasons.

[MaxPower]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Then there are the strugglers that slam on the brakes anytime there is a cop in the vicinity. The cop could be going the opposite direction on friggin deerfoot and these tools will hammer the brakes to 10 under the limit. Same thing when the cop already has someone pulled over. What goes through these morons' minds? "OMFG!@!!!! THERE'S A COP!!!!!!!!!!!! HE MIGHT DROP WHAT HE'S DOING AND CHASE ME AND PUT ME IN JAIL UNLESS I SLAM ON MY BRAKES RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!"

haha when my friends do that I ask them "What do you honestly expect to happen here? Is that cop gonna drop what he's doing to come get YOU? Come on..."

You can see a similar effect when there's an accident on Deerfoot with police/emergency vehicles. Between the rubber-neckers and people with the above train of thought, traffic in the other direction is affected considerably.

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

I'm not that naive. But if they're going to cut through my neighborhood, do people also need to be dinks in the process? I've seen drivers block the intersection and crosswalks at 18th Street and Riverglen Drive, causing gridlock because there wasn't enough room on the other side of the lights and they went anyway. There are the speeders and red light runners that are going to run over a 3rd grader one of these days. This morning this lady (and I use the term loosely) honked, gave me the finger and rode my bumper simply because I merged in front of her on a legal and safe right turn. And of course this winter we will discover that the cloverleaf turn from 18th Street onto Glenmore westbound is wholly inadequate for the newly found volume.

Then again the real blame needs to be placed on the Council and ultimately the Roads Department for engineering the gong show that is Deerfoot between Bow Bottom and Glenmore, causing people to have to find alternatives.

I work in quarry park so I feel bad about the increased traffic, sadly its only going to get worse once these other office buildings and the CO-OP open. Hopefully once 24th gets finished some of the traffic will spread out a bit.