What's with the Traffic in Calgary?

[Claeren]

Traffic on Crowchild often backs up to a crawl (or outright stop if there is an accident) from the river (Crowchild/Memorial) allllllllll the way back to just north of Brentwood Station, sometimes a bit further back to about Northland Mall.

Of course during any sort of snowfall it backs up to Stoney Trail (IE: It is not a functioning road).


As has been said, the summer is usually better (although sometimes worse) but now that school has started and there is all of the University traffic it is pretty consistantly bad after about 7:35 until about 8:45 (with 7:00-7:35 and 8:45-9:30 being, at best, 'marginally alright heavy traffic').


My ex-gf lived in Bearspaw and if it snowed she basically could not even think of going to work until after 10am -- and it is not like that was alright with her bosses, she simply had no other option.


Claeren.

[Pablothegreat]

There are a bunch of private schools in the SW, and come September, I see a whole bunch of cars (not school buses) drop off kids, then make their way downtown. Don't know the exact numbers but if Bow Trail is backed up to Westbrook in the summer, it's usually backup up to Sarcee during the school year.

I would like to see more school buses for the schools to reduce the number of cars I see, but what do the parents care. If anything, it's the nanny doing the running around anyway so they don't have to sit in traffic.

[cKy]

I also live in the NW and work in Sundance (probably work @ the same place as Bobobobola) and I find its worse getting home in the afternoon. Its that damn Memorial drive/16th ave turnoffs that screw up EVERYTHING... Crowchild flows great up until there.. then slowly gets better after McMahon. Also, its F'n 80 Km once u get to McMahon, drive it, not F'n 60 and slow everything down.. hosers.

[Hustle]

Originally Posted by cKy

I also live in the NW and work in Sundance (probably work @ the same place as Bobobobola) and I find its worse getting home in the afternoon. Its that damn Memorial drive/16th ave turnoffs that screw up EVERYTHING... Crowchild flows great up until there.. then slowly gets better after McMahon. Also, its F'n 80 Km once u get to McMahon, drive it, not F'n 60 and slow everything down.. hosers.

Yup. Those two turnoffs (Memorial and 16th) wreak havoc on Crowchild during rush hour in the morning and evening. It bottlenecks everything up.. frustrating. Then again, it prepared me for the parking lot that is the city of Vancouver

That said, I can't imagine what all you guys down in the south have gone through with the Glenmore situation the last few years. I get annoyed driving that during non-peak hours.. cant even imagine it at rush hour.

[4X4]

I think the problem you see on Bow Trail is probably related to one person doing something stupid. I can't pinpoint it for Bow Trail because I have no business on that road during the daytime, but I'll give an example from 20th Ave NW:

The road is basically one lane each direction. It runs parallel to 16th ave and alot of people use it because 16th sucks.
At 14th street, 10th street, 4th street and Center Street, there are always a couple of people that need to turn left, but the majority of traffic actually continues east/west through these key intersections.
If you're a considerate driver, you signal that you're turning left well before the intersection so people behind you can see it and pop into the right lane to get through immediately when the light turns green.
Often, some a-hole will not signal until the light turns green and it wreaks havoc on the people behind. Suddenly everyone is trying to get out of the left lane and into the right lane to get past, but there are already a few people in the right lane that are moving. Then you get a-hole #2 that pokes his nose out and forces traffic in the right lane to stop.
That one little thing doubles the traffic at the light for the next go-around. Next thing you know, 20th is a mess, and Joe Dickhead that waited until the light turned green to signal left is none the wiser and never learns his lesson until it happens to him.

[Cawz]

Originally Posted by Hustle

Then again, it prepared me for the parking lot that is the city of Vancouver

Yeah, as bad as Calgary can get, its still better than driving rush hour in Vancouver.

[Muta]

Originally Posted by 4X4

I think the problem you see on Bow Trail is probably related to one person doing something stupid. I can't pinpoint it for Bow Trail because I have no business on that road during the daytime, but I'll give an example from 20th Ave NW:

The road is basically one lane each direction. It runs parallel to 16th ave and alot of people use it because 16th sucks.
At 14th street, 10th street, 4th street and Center Street, there are always a couple of people that need to turn left, but the majority of traffic actually continues east/west through these key intersections.
If you're a considerate driver, you signal that you're turning left well before the intersection so people behind you can see it and pop into the right lane to get through immediately when the light turns green.
Often, some a-hole will not signal until the light turns green and it wreaks havoc on the people behind. Suddenly everyone is trying to get out of the left lane and into the right lane to get past, but there are already a few people in the right lane that are moving. Then you get a-hole #2 that pokes his nose out and forces traffic in the right lane to stop.
That one little thing doubles the traffic at the light for the next go-around. Next thing you know, 20th is a mess, and Joe Dickhead that waited until the light turned green to signal left is none the wiser and never learns his lesson until it happens to him.

The problem is, on Bow Trail, no one is turning off of it. If you do, you end up in neighbourhoods. Everyone is going straight forward; there's no turning going on.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by metal_geek

10-15 mins make a huge difference in the volume of traffic on some places.

Deerfoot north backs up to 130th mon-wed at 7:30 am... wait till 7:45 and the backup moves to barlow... not a big distance savings, but 15 min saves 10 min driving time...

Some roads are still just plain buggered though. The whole section of deerfoot from bow bottom through to glenmore is a gigantic disaster... Really, is it possible to have a worse westbound glenmore exit from deefoot? What about the merge of bow bottom onto deerfoot.. that's the root of all the south deerfoot problems...

Well, the fact that some idiot back in the day decided that placing a giant bottleneck in that area sure didn't help. They need to redesign deerfoot so that it's at least six lanes all the way through that area. To go from 6-8 lanes in the central part of the city to 4 at Glenmore back to 6 at southland, back down to 4 at Anderson up to 8 by 130th is just stupid.

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.

[Incogneto]

Originally Posted by Jayems

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Calgarians have absolutely no idea what a signal light is, nor how to use one.

... but probably not.

I just got back from South America...now THAT is crazy traffic with no signal lights.

Here in Calgary, no one knows how to drive agressivly. I really wish people would practice agressive driving, just to speed things up.

[metal_geek]

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.

Really you find it much better?.... Comming from Auburn Bay I've tried that a few morning but seems like the same steaming pile of traffic to me.. Maybe I just picked a couple bad days. That or everywhere in the city is about the same..

[COGENT]

Originally Posted by 4X4

I think the problem you see on Bow Trail is probably related to one person doing something stupid. I can't pinpoint it for Bow Trail because I have no business on that road during the daytime, but I'll give an example from 20th Ave NW:

The road is basically one lane each direction. It runs parallel to 16th ave and alot of people use it because 16th sucks.
At 14th street, 10th street, 4th street and Center Street, there are always a couple of people that need to turn left, but the majority of traffic actually continues east/west through these key intersections.
If you're a considerate driver, you signal that you're turning left well before the intersection so people behind you can see it and pop into the right lane to get through immediately when the light turns green.
Often, some a-hole will not signal until the light turns green and it wreaks havoc on the people behind. Suddenly everyone is trying to get out of the left lane and into the right lane to get past, but there are already a few people in the right lane that are moving. Then you get a-hole #2 that pokes his nose out and forces traffic in the right lane to stop.
That one little thing doubles the traffic at the light for the next go-around. Next thing you know, 20th is a mess, and Joe Dickhead that waited until the light turned green to signal left is none the wiser and never learns his lesson until it happens to him.

phew, I'm glad I'm no the only one that is sitting behind Joe Dickhead on 20th wishing I had a megaphone on the roof of my car so he can actually hear the things I am calling him. oh geez, there goes my blood pressure again.

[burn_this_city]

All you southern deerfoot dwellers should cut thru quarry park to hit up glenmore in the mornning. Just leave deerfoot at douglasglen (24th street) go down past the timmys and turn left on 18th, follow that through quarry park and riverbend.

[StealthOiler]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

All you southern deerfoot dwellers should cut thru quarry park to hit up glenmore in the mornning. Just leave deerfoot at douglasglen (24th street) go down past the timmys and turn left on 18th, follow that through quarry park and riverbend.

As a Riverbender (I also live on 18th), this scares me. The 18th street extension between us and Douglasglen was always something that I knew would cause issues. The traffic in this neighbourhood was usually pretty calm. When school starting back up - oh my God. 7:15am is a joke around here now.

And it wouldn't bother me nearly as much if the drivers cutting through here were curtious. But I've seen the cops here weekly, so I refuse to go about 55km/h - but everyone that comes through here thinks the limit is 70. Someone is always on my ass, nearly rear-ending me. In fact, I think it's only a matter of time before a child is hit while walking to school in the morning. Heck, I've already seen some close calls.

I know this area is going to be stupid once the first snow falls.

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

All you southern deerfoot dwellers should cut thru quarry park to hit up glenmore in the mornning. Just leave deerfoot at douglasglen (24th street) go down past the timmys and turn left on 18th, follow that through quarry park and riverbend.

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.

[REDVAN]

I am sorry to attack like this, but traffic is usually messed up because drivers are inconsiderate to each other, and THERE IS ALWAYS THAT ONE IDIOT WHO GOES OUT IN RUSH HOUR AND F'S IT UP FOR EVERYONE ELSE. I am a firm believer that!!! When I am going where I need to go (my house to university area), the drive should take 20 min. In rush hour it takes 35, but it should only take 25 even including all the extra traffic. And why do we have to ride our breaks and pump them every 3 seconds, guys in front of me? Learn this simple fact: just because you aren't pressing the gas does NOT mean you have to ride the brake. And don't drive with two feet in your automatic. GRRRRR!

It's because some a-hole pumped his breaks at 6:30 in the morning because he doesn't know how to drive, and now the chain effect of break pumping is rippling down the traffic for the rest ofrush hour. If you can't get where you need to go and do so as fast as possible, then you need to take transit or get off the road at rush hour. NO EXCUSES about "it's safer to go slow when there are more cars" because for every slow guy going 20 under, there is me going 20 over. I don't wanna derail and rant (AGAIN) about those guys, but serious, go the speed limit when you can!

Point is, traffic can get messed up by one dumbass, which is a problem for the rest of us. To top it off, with construction and people being scared, oh crap it's a nightmare. My advice is to save a sick day for the first snowfall. I know that I will be sleeping in on that day.

[4X4]

^^Preach it, Brotha^^

[REDVAN]

Originally Posted by 4X4

^^Preach it, Brotha^^

I had to represent. You were being too tame.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by 4X4

^^Preach it, Brotha^^

Seconded x2

[4X4]

Maybe half the problem on Bow Trail is the yield sign in the construction zone. Most people know that in high volume times, you just alternate. Then there's always the one dumass that either stomps the brakes and waits for the break in traffic that will never come, or else you have the a-hole that refuses to allow the criss-cross to continue and scares the person at pole position into waiting forever.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by REDVAN

I am sorry to attack like this, but traffic is usually messed up because drivers are inconsiderate to each other, and THERE IS ALWAYS THAT ONE IDIOT WHO GOES OUT IN RUSH HOUR AND F'S IT UP FOR EVERYONE ELSE. I am a firm believer that!!! When I am going where I need to go (my house to university area), the drive should take 20 min. In rush hour it takes 35, but it should only take 25 even including all the extra traffic. And why do we have to ride our breaks and pump them every 3 seconds, guys in front of me? Learn this simple fact: just because you aren't pressing the gas does NOT mean you have to ride the brake. And don't drive with two feet in your automatic. GRRRRR!

It's because some a-hole pumped his breaks at 6:30 in the morning because he doesn't know how to drive, and now the chain effect of break pumping is rippling down the traffic for the rest ofrush hour. If you can't get where you need to go and do so as fast as possible, then you need to take transit or get off the road at rush hour. NO EXCUSES about "it's safer to go slow when there are more cars" because for every slow guy going 20 under, there is me going 20 over. I don't wanna derail and rant (AGAIN) about those guys, but serious, go the speed limit when you can!

Point is, traffic can get messed up by one dumbass, which is a problem for the rest of us. To top it off, with construction and people being scared, oh crap it's a nightmare. My advice is to save a sick day for the first snowfall. I know that I will be sleeping in on that day.

Then there's me doing the limit and some asshat riding my bumper because i won't go 20+ above the limit no matter what lane i'm in. Calgary drivers are always in a hurry to get somewhere fast. It's no wonder you have fender benders and accidents on the Deerfoot and other streets.