Calgary Roads Discussion Thread

[D as in David]

Originally Posted by cal_guy

I believe it's an navigational aid for the blind drivers.

fixed

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent

what on earth are they doing on 17th

ripping up 40-60 foot patches of road and paving them at random while leaving others . different lane closures every morning . they can't just pave large stretches over night? it's like watching children with short attention spans revamp their Lego town

Presumably utility work or something? They'll probably come back and repave the whole thing at some point, the patches are probably temporary. But didn't they just redo all of 17th a couple years ago?

[Zarley]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Presumably utility work or something? They'll probably come back and repave the whole thing at some point, the patches are probably temporary. But didn't they just redo all of 17th a couple years ago?

Unfortunately this is part of the same project. We are now in year five of the project. Sidewalk work scheduled for next year and the year after that.

It's one of the worst managed projects I've ever seen. My commute is a walk down 17th and the condition of the sidewalks is atrocious. It's awful for people with mobility issues.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Still drops to a f#$%ing 60 zone for revenue purposes no reason unless they've removed the signs in the last two days.

There are still pylons out and it drops to one lane. Hopefully once those are gone the limit will change.

I noticed today that the barrier doesn't extend far enough to the west. There is room for a nutjob to cross about a meter of grass if they wanted to make it to 37th St, but one could also slam into the end of the barrier. That'll probably be the excuse to keep it at 60

[TorqueDog]

Yeah, and there is zero reason whatsoever for those pylons to still be out. I just drove through there again today, the work is done.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Still drops to a f#$%ing 60 zone for revenue purposes no reason unless they've removed the signs in the last two days.

As a person who regularly speeds through there I’ve never gotten a ticket but I think once it’s done it will change as I think they added exit ramp 60km/h signs on the 37th exit. I don’t think those were their before and would be redundant without raising the limit

I think they are just using the 60 as the construction zone limit so didn’t change the sign yet.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Distinction without a difference; the Calgary Police are still the ones issuing tickets.

They're not the ones setting the speed limit or deciding to have the barrier or not though, that's what I meant

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by GGG

As a person who regularly speeds through there I’ve never gotten a ticket but I think once it’s done it will change as I think they added exit ramp 60km/h signs on the 37th exit. I don’t think those were their before and would be redundant without raising the limit.

I mean so do I, but that's thanks to a combination of my eyes, Waze, and countermeasures. There's no reason at this point for those pylons to be there, and thus no reason for a construction zone, at the very least on the left-hand side of the barrier.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

I mean so do I, but that's thanks to a combination of my eyes, Waze, and countermeasures. There's no reason at this point for those pylons to be there, and thus no reason for a construction zone, at the very least on the left-hand side of the barrier.

Have you seen speed traps there? Or picked them up?

I’m probably 3 days a week and have not noticed anything and no tickets. So if they are ticketing they must have the threshold above 80

[TorqueDog]

I’ve seen them a few times, usually earlier in the morning between 8 and 10 AM or early afternoon right after lunch time. I got hit with a ProLaser III coming back from West Hills heading EB on Glenmore the other day. CPS were pulling vehicles over on the south portion of Glenmore by the 37 St ramp, but I was on the north side of EB so I was likely picking up scatter. I reported the trap on Waze. They almost exclusively target eastbound traffic where the limit is set to 60.

[you&me]

When I was last through Stoney -> Glenmore WB on Tuesday night, the pylons were still up, but right up against the median. There was a new sign for 80 posted further west (with a 60 leaned up against the pole on the ground haha), before the 37th exit... the previous 80 sign was after the exit, just as the two EB roads converged. I

t was glorious to see... As I rolled by at ~90

[La Flames Fan]

Can someone explain the lane closure/merge on Memorial at 10th St. during rush hour? I get that it's for people leaving the downtown, but is it really doing anything?

Plus it's really backing up east bound traffic now.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by La Flames Fan

Can someone explain the lane closure/merge on Memorial at 10th St. during rush hour? I get that it's for people leaving the downtown, but is it really doing anything?

Plus it's really backing up east bound traffic now.

Are you talking about the lane reversal? That's pretty much exactly its point and the point of all the lane reversals: increase throughput for traffic leaving downtown during the afternoon rush hour, at the cost of eastbound (toward downtown) traffic flow.

That particular stretch west of 10 St is mainly to provide a smooth merge in to conclude the lane reversal. That's it, really.

[topfiverecords]

They could just do a better job defining the dual turn lanes into the two regular lanes instead of splitting it.

It doesn't work that well anymore because east bound people are going back into the left lane at the light and then getting in the way of the turning traffic into that lane. Every time I'm a pedestrian at that light during lane reversal it's one moron after another doing this now. Apparantly that big red X over their head means the brain is gone. It's great entertainment to watch all the angry people from 10th flipping off these idiots in their way head on.

[La Flames Fan]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Are you talking about the lane reversal? That's pretty much exactly its point and the point of all the lane reversals: increase throughput for traffic leaving downtown during the afternoon rush hour, at the cost of eastbound (toward downtown) traffic flow.

That particular stretch west of 10 St is mainly to provide a smooth merge in to conclude the lane reversal. That's it, really.

Yeah. Seems to be causing more traffic than solving? At least on the eastbound side anyway. Or maybe it's operating too late in the day...I've been going that way for a while now and there's very little traffic heading west at around 6:00 whereas eastbound is backed up all the way past 14th.

[TorqueDog]

Some people would suggest that causing more traffic is a good thing to inspire these people to get fed up and take public transit (and those people are twats). But yeah, the lane reversal runs until 6:30 PM which is a bit much.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Some people would suggest that causing more traffic is a good thing to inspire these people to get fed up and take public transit (and those people are twats). But yeah, the lane reversal runs until 6:30 PM which is a bit much.

Alternative phrasing: induced demand is a real thing (ie. every traffic adjustment is a catch 22)

[Bill Bumface]

The 10th St. lane reversal made a massive difference. The merge back down to two lanes is so far down that it doesn't back up to the lights ever, so you're getting 50% more cars through those lights.

Agreed the times could be constricted a bit, but I've never been stuck more than 2 or 3 lights going east bound, which pales in comparison to the nightmare that going westbound used to be.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

The 10th St. lane reversal made a massive difference. The merge back down to two lanes is so far down that it doesn't back up to the lights ever, so you're getting 50% more cars through those lights.

Agreed the times could be constricted a bit, but I've never been stuck more than 2 or 3 lights going east bound, which pales in comparison to the nightmare that going westbound used to be.

Sure, but it’s the allowance of the dual left that’s doing it, not the two lefts getting three lanes for a few hundred meters that comes back down to two anyway.

[Enoch Root]

Drove through Glenmore eastbound from Stony yesterday. Unless I missed it (possible), the 60 km zone was gone and it was 80 throughout.