WestLRT Construction Transgression thread

[Ducay]

Ya, whats the best way to complain about the light timings? The 24th St lights took over 2 minutes yesterday (sunday) to cycle, and I was on w/b Bow. There was traffic lined up all the way down the hill, which was insane for 12pm on a Sunday.

Rush hour is twice as bad because of this intersection now

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by frinkprof

The Sirocco Park N' Ride has actually been there for a number of years serving the route 301 BRT, but is seeing heavier use now that the one at Westside Recreation Centre has had to close due to construction. It will remain in use after the line opens, and is located where it is due to lack of space directly adjacent to the Sirocco Station platform.

OH! I thought there were two separate ones.. one closer to Sarcee and one in Sirocco. From your picture I can see the park and ride over on the right, but I thought there's one further down the hill near Sarcee, unless I'm looking at it totally wrong.

[The Goon]

Some pictures from my area. Sorry about the poor photo merges.

Another quiet Sunday morning:



Standing over the area where the train will go underground:



Standing on 69th Street/17th Avenue, looking east (and into the station):



West Calgary High School (scheduled to open Sep 2011). This is a huge school:

[frinkprof]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

OH! I thought there were two separate ones.. one closer to Sarcee and one in Sirocco. From your picture I can see the park and ride over on the right, but I thought there's one further down the hill near Sarcee, unless I'm looking at it totally wrong.

I took pictures of two separate ones, the one at the NW corner of Sarcee/17th, and the one at the corner of Christie Park Gate/17th. There are 9 in total along the length of the entire project.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by frinkprof

I took pictures of two separate ones, the one at the NW corner of Sarcee/17th, and the one at the corner of Christie Park Gate/17th. There are 9 in total along the length of the entire project.

Thanks! I looked again today when I was near there and I was looking at it wrong

[chemgear]

I'm kinda surprised that Aspen Woods isn't complaining more about the LRT/highschool. I can't see anybody from that neighborhood going to the school - or ever using the LRT either.

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by chemgear

I'm kinda surprised that Aspen Woods isn't complaining more about the LRT/highschool. I can't see anybody from that neighborhood going to the school - or ever using the LRT either.

How could they possibly complain about something that was planned long before their houses were?

Plus, I can't see the either of those 2 things being a negative, considering they have those ridiculous lofts to act as a buffer.

LRT is going to be a huge draw for that area, especially the parts of Aspen that are further out (past 85th) that will be served by Aspen extension.

[amorak]

Originally Posted by Ducay

How could they possibly complain about something that was planned long before their houses were?

Plus, I can't see the either of those 2 things being a negative, considering they have those ridiculous lofts to act as a buffer.

LRT is going to be a huge draw for that area, especially the parts of Aspen that are further out (past 85th) that will be served by Aspen extension.

Booyah! My property value just went up! Aspen is amazing!

[Nage Waza]

Originally Posted by chemgear

I'm kinda surprised that Aspen Woods isn't complaining more about the LRT/highschool. I can't see anybody from that neighborhood going to the school - or ever using the LRT either.

Uhhhh, what? Why wouldn't anyone from that area use the highschool or LRT?

[amorak]

I live in Aspen, my kids will go to private school...

nawt!

[GirlySports]

The area is growing too. There is alot of constrution along 85th ST.

At the corner of 85st and Strathcona Drive there are hundreds of houses giong up.

[Ducay]

Just looking at the westlrt.ca:

On Nov. 3, 2010, westbound Bow Trail permanently shifted north through the 26 Street S.W. intersection to make room for the future LRT alignment and Shaganappi Point Station in the median of Bow Trail. Due to the shift, traffic on 26 Street S.W. must operate in a split phase cycle: northbound traffic exclusively moves through the intersection and then southbound traffic exclusively moves through the intersection.
This added green time for traffic on 26 Street S.W. means more red time for traffic on eastbound and westbound Bow Trail, which is the permanent signal timing moving forward.

Funk that. If these are the permanent timings, then I'm either a monkey's uncle or am going to have to move. They're basically ruining Bow trail and creating a monstrous bottleneck.

[jammies]

Originally Posted by Ducay

How could they possibly complain about something that was planned long before their houses were?

You must be new on this planet.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by jammies

You must be new on this planet.

Or suburbia?

[Ducay]

Seriously though, whats the most efficient way to complain about the light at 26th?

With the snow this week, that intersection is a huge bottleneck and is causing Bow to back up all the way up the hill, well past Old Banff/Strathcona Blvd.

Its ridiculous, once you past that intersection, its smooth sailing.

[amorak]

I am tweeting Nenshi

[stevinder]

Info on Bow Trail @ 26th St from the West LRT Project website:

http://www.westlrt.ca/files/Bow%20Tr...West%20LRT.pdf

[Ducay]

Oh I certainly read the info update, but the problem is the light timings are still ruining any and all movement on Bow.

Sure they expected it, but that doesn't mean they can't do something to help. Its way worse than Im sure they imagined.

A usual 30 minute drive from the top of the hill is taking over an hour because of that light.

[algernon]

Originally Posted by amorak

I am tweeting Nenshi

Oh yeah! we're certain to see some action after you're done with him.

[FurnaceFace]

26th doesn't have that much traffic so I would think they could adjust the timing of the light down to something more reasonable. The most traffic I see are people turning right from northbound 26th onto Bow which shouldn't be hindered too badly.

EDIT: They seem to think the timing as as fast as possible for the current configuration. I believe they could cut the time down on how long the light stays green when a pedestrian hits the cross button...also if they got cracking on the 24th overpass that would alleviate some of the pedestrian traffic.

It will get better though:

Future Traffic Signal Timing – end of construction/opening day
- Traffic flow through this intersection near the end of construction and opening day compared to now, will improve.
- Nearing the end of construction (2012), there will be three through eastbound and three through westbound lanes through the intersection, instead of two lanes.
- Once the LRT Station is constructed, pedestrians will only be able to cross Bow Trail to the LRT Station (median of Bow Trail) and then have to wait for another signal to cross from the LRT Station to the other side of Bow Trail. This phasing is necessary to ensure pedestrians safely cross the LRT tracks in the median. It will also reduce signal timing required for pedestrians.
- There will be an increase of pedestrians crossing Bow Trail after opening day due to LRT passengers using the Shaganappi Point Station.