Ring Road To Nowhere

[agulati]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

You mean like this?


http://www.transportation.alberta.ca/glengp.htm

I don't know how valid a 10 year old study/plan will be for the actual project. It definitely is an excellent resource, but once the project is a go, I'm sure the construction bidders/city/province will want as updated a study as possible.

[Fuzz]

My understanding when that was done was that they wanted planning to be far enough along that when funding was available it was not going to have to go back to square one.

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by agulati

I don't know how valid a 10 year old study/plan will be for the actual project. It definitely is an excellent resource, but once the project is a go, I'm sure the construction bidders/city/province will want as updated a study as possible.

Taking a project off the shelf is a lot of work, regardless of how complete it was when it was shelved. Rest assured at this point, some of the decision making would be re-thought to further optimize the designs. Any approvals with utilities or environmental regulations would need to be redone. It can be a lot of rework.

[Ironhorse]

Watch SNC Lavalin get the engineering and construction contract...

[powderjunkie]

In my Sim-City Fantasy land I've always thought doing something with the southern section of Barlow Trail like an elevated toll free-way would be a great way to mitigate this. More expensive, but with some revenue recovery, and without the decade long headache that will be involved in upgrading two river crossings and the Glenmore nightmare.

Is there any chance they're able to widen Peigan Trail and kill a light or two to help get more people out to the Ring Road?

[4X4]

Widening Peigan is such a no-brainer, I can't believe it hasn't happened yet. It's one lane each direction, except at lights, yet it's connected to Stoney AND Deerfoot. If a road is connected to Stoney, there should be standards. 53' trucks pulling off 52nd should not be the pacesetters for the whole stretch, and vice versa between 52nd and 36th. It's pretty pathetic, actually.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

Taking a project off the shelf is a lot of work, regardless of how complete it was when it was shelved. Rest assured at this point, some of the decision making would be re-thought to further optimize the designs. Any approvals with utilities or environmental regulations would need to be redone. It can be a lot of rework.

Ok, and I’m no expert so I trust the experts on these things, but is it seriously 4 years of work? That seems laughable. Surely they could prioritize one interchange, take a year and get that started or something like that? Like I say, I don’t know, but it sure feels like a long time to rework things and get shovels in the ground.

[Tyler]

Originally Posted by Slava

Ok, and I’m no expert so I trust the experts on these things, but is it seriously 4 years of work? That seems laughable. Surely they could prioritize one interchange, take a year and get that started or something like that? Like I say, I don’t know, but it sure feels like a long time to rework things and get shovels in the ground.

Financially, they're probably pretty tapped paying for the Ring Road. This is likely around when that projects are complete and money is freed-up

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

In my Sim-City Fantasy land I've always thought doing something with the southern section of Barlow Trail like an elevated toll free-way would be a great way to mitigate this. More expensive, but with some revenue recovery, and without the decade long headache that will be involved in upgrading two river crossings and the Glenmore nightmare.

Is there any chance they're able to widen Peigan Trail and kill a light or two to help get more people out to the Ring Road?

If by 'they' you mean the Province then the answer is no. If by 'they' you mean the City then this should totally be a priority. Simple and easy to do, the right of way is there and there would be little impact on existing traffic. They could probably do this one in a single construction season.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by Slava

Ok, and I’m no expert so I trust the experts on these things, but is it seriously 4 years of work? That seems laughable. Surely they could prioritize one interchange, take a year and get that started or something like that? Like I say, I don’t know, but it sure feels like a long time to rework things and get shovels in the ground.

The start date doesn't matter nearly as much as the end date (or more specifically, the total project time). I'm fine with delayed start if it means the whole thing takes 3 summers instead of 4.

Originally Posted by Lubicon

If by 'they' you mean the Province then the answer is no. If by 'they' you mean the City then this should totally be a priority. Simple and easy to do, the right of way is there and there would be little impact on existing traffic. They could probably do this one in a single construction season.

Great point, it's so easy to forget when looking at Deerfoot in the heart of the city. Perhaps/hopefully the long lead time is also to give the city time to do some upgrades/preparations in advance of this disruption.

[Lubicon]

Lost in all the excitement of the West RR and SW RR this announcement has largely gone un-noticed. New interchange to be built at 14 St NW. If this goes like the one they did at Centre Street there should be very little disruption on Stoney itself and goes to show the benefit of some advance planning. Of interest is there will not be traffic lights along 14 St to control the intersections but rather traffic circles. That part of the project is a City project however. Interesting concept and i will be curious to see how it works.

https://www.calgary.ca/Transportatio...-14-St-NW.aspx

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

Lost in all the excitement of the West RR and SW RR this announcement has largely gone un-noticed. New interchange to be built at 14 St NW. If this goes like the one they did at Centre Street there should be very little disruption on Stoney itself and goes to show the benefit of some advance planning. Of interest is there will not be traffic lights along 14 St to control the intersections but rather traffic circles. That part of the project is a City project however. Interesting concept and i will be curious to see how it works.

https://www.calgary.ca/Transportatio...-14-St-NW.aspx

Oh yeah, that useless part of 14 Street NW that confused the hell out of me when Stoney first opened. "Oh sweet, I can exit to 14th from here and get back to downtown!" Noooope.

They should have called it something else like Evanorama Hillston Blvd NW or something similarly community themed.

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

Lost in all the excitement of the West RR and SW RR this announcement has largely gone un-noticed. New interchange to be built at 14 St NW. If this goes like the one they did at Centre Street there should be very little disruption on Stoney itself and goes to show the benefit of some advance planning. Of interest is there will not be traffic lights along 14 St to control the intersections but rather traffic circles. That part of the project is a City project however. Interesting concept and i will be curious to see how it works.

https://www.calgary.ca/Transportatio...-14-St-NW.aspx

My sister-in-law lives in Evanston, so this will come in handy. Both for access to/from Stoney, but also getting across Stoney to the businesses in Panorama. I think that the roundabouts, if you can call them that, will be just fine there.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Oh yeah, that useless part of 14 Street NW that confused the hell out of me when Stoney first opened. "Oh sweet, I can exit to 14th from here and get back to downtown!" Noooope.

They should have called it something else like Evanorama Hillston Blvd NW or something similarly community themed.

The NW has a fine tradition of seemingly contiguous, yet totally not, major thoroughfares.

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

The NW has a fine tradition of seemingly contiguous, yet totally not, major thoroughfares.

I Sarcee what you did there.

[Ducay]

Is that the Stoney interchange that has all the ramps & earthworks done, but everything is just grassed over? Just before Deerfoot

Edit: nope, looks like they did a similar thing in building the cloverleaf/crossing earthworks at 14th as well.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

I Sarcee what you did there.

Well......Bowness points for you...

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Well......Bowness points for you...

I suppose you haven't been to the eastern quadrants, as that's Barlow you.

[powderjunkie]

TIL 14 street arbitrarily starts and stops in the north, just like in the south.

Sarcee Trail, Barlow Trail, 37 St SW, I'm sure there are a few other prominent ones? Is Calgary somewhat unique in this regard?

[Fuzz]

Centre street, too. I think it has at least 5 segments. Five!