Ring Road To Nowhere

[Nancy]

Originally Posted by you&me

There would be one light on SB Sarcee @ Bow on the old route... And I count 3 or 4 with the new route; One when you exit the RR to turn EB on Bow; one at 85th and Bow; One at 69th and Bow; and I suppose one at Bow and Sarcee, but it's a right turn and should be unimpeded... Right? Or is there a second light on the Bow overpass (wasn't sure if it was operational yet)?

1. Exiting on West side of stony
2. Light on east side of stony for n/b merging traffic turning left (won’t have any traffic currently other than construction traffic ). But they would probably have this timed with the other light anyway I guess?
3. 85th
4. Pedestrian controlled light mid-Bow
5. OBCR

6? Traffic at Sarcee can also back up past the right turn lane so you could actually have to wait for a light there with heavier traffic volumes.

[RW99]

Shoutout to the South Bow River bridge. Up until very recently, it was to be finished by October 2023. The bridge may be "finished", but can't use it fully until next year?


Shoutout to the guy pulled over by police this morning in the WB side. Not sure if you were speeding or not, there is rarely police there.


Shoutout to the police that pulled him over, right in the middle of the bridge. Waiting 5-10 seconds to get off the bridge to turn on the lights was not needed.


And finally, shoutout to me, for not knowing the finer details of the construction, and pinning all my hopes on the construction being done this month.


Alright, back to the West Ring Road

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Finish one project, devote all resources to it until it's done, then move to another.

Number one gripe with Calgary road construction. They bounce around and leave major arteries obstructed or slowed for months with no work being done.

Not to mention firing up new projects at the end of September and not June when kids will be getting out of school.

What's the thought process behind this ####.

[calgarygringo]

I live right near the corner of 16 ave and Stoney to start. I have used 16 ave to Stoney to head out to our trailer site all summer with just minor delays at the most. Went out Sunday morning to HD Tuscanny and see what changes there was and was backed up way back. 4 lanes now down to 2 and sucked. Took forever to get on there and took Bowness park way back. Took it home this morning from Bow Trail and was half the time. Took it from Cougar Ridge/Old Banff Coach road and half the time of Sarcee. Coming home 16 ave to get on to Stoney North was backed up until under the underpass at Bowfort Road. Hiway 1 rom the west was backed up so far I couldnt see the start of it. WTF were these guys thinking? Myself and bet many others will stay away from this gong show until they figure it out or opwn it all. All the hype for opening to this mess? I fell sorry for all those that were lined up forever to get on it.

[Caged Great]

Leaving where I live to go north onto stoney to transcanada is great and a lot faster.

Its impossible to return southbound because the lanes are blocked with people trying to go north and no access to the south turn lane due to all the people stuck going north.

It'll be nice when the figure out how to merge all the traffic properly.

[calf]

Originally Posted by calgarygringo

I live right near the corner of 16 ave and Stoney to start. I have used 16 ave to Stoney to head out to our trailer site all summer with just minor delays at the most. Went out Sunday morning to HD Tuscanny and see what changes there was and was backed up way back. 4 lanes now down to 2 and sucked. Took forever to get on there and took Bowness park way back. Took it home this morning from Bow Trail and was half the time. Took it from Cougar Ridge/Old Banff Coach road and half the time of Sarcee. Coming home 16 ave to get on to Stoney North was backed up until under the underpass at Bowfort Road. Hiway 1 rom the west was backed up so far I couldnt see the start of it. WTF were these guys thinking? Myself and bet many others will stay away from this gong show until they figure it out or opwn it all. All the hype for opening to this mess? I fell sorry for all those that were lined up forever to get on it.

I was worried that's what would happen...more bottlenecks in an already bottlenecked area.

Coming from the SW to Crowfoot this afternoon (around 430), it was smooth sailing along NB Stoney - no traffic between Bow and TCH, and a straight through lane onto the bridge with no other traffic merging in.

[Nancy]

First day of full commuter traffic at Bow & Sarcee. Google is telling me it is 5 minutes longer to work than usual.

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Bow trail at Sarcee was much worse today. A good 2 light wait. I can't imagine this is a route anyone in the NW would want to take.

[Roughneck]

Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug

Bow trail at Sarcee was much worse today. A good 2 light wait. I can't imagine this is a route anyone in the NW would want to take.

Doesn't it just need to be better than Crowchild?


Could be a lot worse for west side residents, but still an improvement for NW commuters.

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Originally Posted by Roughneck

Doesn't it just need to be better than Crowchild?


Could be a lot worse for west side residents, but still an improvement for NW commuters.

For sure, and that is what I am questioning. Going Stoney, down the hill, across the bridge, up the hill and then get stuck at Bow/Sarcee doesn't seem that hard to beat (but I haven't done Crowchild for decades). In either case, you are probably stuck at Bow/9th Avenue.

[Caged Great]

There is the u turn just through the sarcee bow intersection that is less than a light’s delay if the traffic is too backed up

[calgarygringo]

I took Old Banff Coach rd north Stoney home last night and during rush hour nobody until 16 ave. Was quicker than Sarcee to 16 without a doubt. I did 16 ave, Stoney south and exit at Old Banff Coach rd. It shaved off about a third of my travel and again no traffic. Way better than Sarcee to Bow Trail.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Roughneck

Doesn't it just need to be better than Crowchild?


Could be a lot worse for west side residents, but still an improvement for NW commuters.

Hrmmm, Bow Trial and Crowchild into downtown both suck...if only there were another mass transit option going along those 2 routes...oh well, no other choice than to put one person in every SUV/pickup and complain about traffic!

[monkeyman]

Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug

Bow trail at Sarcee was much worse today. A good 2 light wait. I can't imagine this is a route anyone in the NW would want to take.

I’m dreading the day we get our first snowstorm.
Only a city planner or a masochist would design that intersection (Sarcee/Bow). Let’s create a bottle neck of feeder traffic that goes from 3 lanes to 2 just after the intersection. How can we make it worse? Let’s add a crosswalk right at the bottleneck. Not bad enough? We could add a light and a u-turn lane there as well.
Job done!

[Nancy]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Hrmmm, Bow Trial and Crowchild into downtown both suck...if only there were another mass transit option going along those 2 routes...oh well, no other choice than to put one person in every SUV/pickup and complain about traffic!

I don't commute to downtown, but if I did, it is a 22 minute bus ride just to get to the Westbrook LRT station. It blows me away that when they redid Bow Trail from OBCR to 85th that they didn't include a shoulder lane that could be repurposed for a future BRT route, and function as a breakdown lane in the meantime.

[Jimmy Stang]

My wife was also curious about the new part that has opened up (as was I, naturally), so we picked a pathway in Strathcona to go for a walk on, and used that as an excuse to drive the new leg from Tuscany. Yeah, we're nerds.

As with any new roadway, it was an interesting perspective. I can't see it being a faster route for me for much (for now) except for things a fair bit West of Sarcee. I guess that's kind of obvious, and what I expected. Stuff on 85th Street SW, for example, are definitely quicker to get to. My family doctor is in Aspen Landing, which will also be quicker. But for everything else, especially getting to the far south, I think that Sarcee will still be the faster route, even with the failings of the Sarcee/Bow intersection.

I'll still probably drive it if I have a little bit of time to spare, simply for the novelty factor. But I await the full, proper opening and then we'll really start to see the benefits.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Nancy

I don't commute to downtown, but if I did, it is a 22 minute bus ride just to get to the Westbrook LRT station. It blows me away that when they redid Bow Trail from OBCR to 85th that they didn't include a shoulder lane that could be repurposed for a future BRT route, and function as a breakdown lane in the meantime.

One day people will accept that building roads and expensive interchanges rarely improves anything for long. I just don't accept that all those people in cars don't have reasonable alternatives if they chose. I get that some don't, but I'm sure at least 50% of them don't need to be driving.

[you&me]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

One day people will accept that building roads and expensive interchanges rarely improves anything for long. I just don't accept that all those people in cars don't have reasonable alternatives if they chose. I get that some don't, but I'm sure at least 50% of them don't need to be driving.

I think the problem with making choices based on "reasonable alternatives" is that they fail to provide enough meaningful benefit to persuade people to switch.

Like you're replying to someone that says it's a 20 minute bus ride to the CTrain station and then another, what, 15 minutes to DT (if that's the hypothetical destination). So you have a 35 minute commute that probably equals the worst of a rush hour drive (for anyone that would have Westbrook as the start to their CTrain journey).

So, at best, you've equaled the commute time. But this doesn't account for walking to the bus stop, waiting for the bus and walking from the Ctrain station to whatever your destination is DT. At best, in the sunniest of summer days, that's still an inconvenience and at worst, in the dead of winter, ####ing sucks... And nevermind some of the less than pleasant things you might encounter at the stations or on the train (like other people... ewww). How is that going to convince someone that sitting in their own car, listening to their music, with the climate control set how they want is not a better option?

To be clear, I'm not arguing against the idea that transit should be better and that driving infrastructure is probably over-invested in... But at the same time, I can totally see why people would rather drive than take transit, because in its current form, it's not a "reasonable alternative".

[Fuzz]

Instead of spending money to fix an intersection clogged with commuters all going to the same place, maybe improving connections should be more of a priority. If we keep trying to make driving the better choice, it's unwinnable. That's the point.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by calgarygringo

I live right near the corner of 16 ave and Stoney to start. I have used 16 ave to Stoney to head out to our trailer site all summer with just minor delays at the most. Went out Sunday morning to HD Tuscanny and see what changes there was and was backed up way back. 4 lanes now down to 2 and sucked. Took forever to get on there and took Bowness park way back. Took it home this morning from Bow Trail and was half the time. Took it from Cougar Ridge/Old Banff Coach road and half the time of Sarcee. Coming home 16 ave to get on to Stoney North was backed up until under the underpass at Bowfort Road. Hiway 1 rom the west was backed up so far I couldnt see the start of it. WTF were these guys thinking? Myself and bet many others will stay away from this gong show until they figure it out or opwn it all. All the hype for opening to this mess? I fell sorry for all those that were lined up forever to get on it.

Same. Yesterday was a very light traffic day and the backup on TCH WB?Stoney NB was all the way back to Bowfort Road. TCH EB exit was backed up across the bridge too. I'm not looking forward to seeing how backed up it will be during a normal traffic day. Meanwhile BN Stoney coming down the new road, traffic was almost non existing. So there are four lanes of traffic (two WB and two EB) merging into a single NB lane and very little traffic in the other NB lane. Hoping this improves when the NB bridge reopens after its rehab (is there a timeline on this?). Right now it's a mess