Ring Road To Nowhere

[Tyler]

Drove by Woodbine adjacent to the ring road last weekend and was like... damn, those overpasses are shockingly close to the houses!

Turns out I wasn't the only one who feels the same. Man, I would be crushed. I know they knew about it for decades, but those homes have to be worthless now

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Tyler

Drove by Woodbine adjacent to the ring road last weekend and was like... damn, those overpasses are shockingly close to the houses!

Turns out I wasn't the only one who feels the same. Man, I would be crushed. I know they knew about it for decades, but those homes have to be worthless now

but those homes have to be worth less now.


Fixed. But everyone buying them should have known that. My friend bought a place that at the time, may have lost most of the land to the ring road, but it hadn't been planned yet. They knew full well what they were getting in to. Fortunately they didn't take any of it, though it still looks down on it.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by DiracSpike

It boggles my mind that people in the SW were against this for so long. The concept of being able to go from oakridge to westhills in like 5 minutes instead of 25 is incredible. Can't wait to drive this thing just for the fun of it when it opens early.

I grew up (allegedly) in Oakridge too!

I have to think a trip from NW Calgary to Millarville/Turner Valley etc. will be 20 mins faster too. Might be wise to invest in properties out that way.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by troutman

I grew up (allegedly) in Oakridge too!

I have to think a trip from NW Calgary to Millarville/Turner Valley etc. will be 20 mins faster too. Might be wise to invest in properties out that way.

It will be a game changer especially once the west portion of the road opens. I'm looking forward to it just for getting to Southland arena for beer league, it's going to improve that drive hugely even if we need to continue using Sarcee for another few years.

[DiracSpike]

Originally Posted by Tyler

Drove by Woodbine adjacent to the ring road last weekend and was like... damn, those overpasses are shockingly close to the houses!

Turns out I wasn't the only one who feels the same. Man, I would be crushed. I know they knew about it for decades, but those homes have to be worthless now

Forgot to say this, those overpassed are brutal. There’s one in particular right next to one house in particular where it’s practically in their backyard. Like just above their fence. That house used to have a sick view of the fish creek valley and mountains and now it has that. So really unfortunate for that person I’d be crushed, as if the real estate market in Calgary wasn’t bad enough.

[DiracSpike]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I live in the area (and grew up here too), and I agree that for the most part the road will not be disruptive to the area and will be a big improvement. And it's funny but the thing people in this neighbourhood are most excited about isn't the road itself, it's the new Costco opening on the Tsuu Tina.

I don't recall there being much opposition to the road road at the planning stage. Most of the concern was over the Weaselhead (which has been borne out - with an 8-lane causeway overhead, the natural area doesn't feel especially natural anymore).

The complaints I've heard around here were over the construction, and how they did the ring road, BRT, and a couple other projects all at once. You know how much of a pain in the ass it was to get out of the area before? Imagine how much more of pain in the ass it was with Southland, 90th, Anderson, and 14st street all reduced to 1/2 or 2/3 lanes simultaneously every day for the better part of two years.

That area is always under construction, with seemingly no improvement in transportation ever. I still drive down there a lot to visit my parents and that BRT project is definitely an irritant that has seemingly been going on forever. I doubt the need for a tunnel under 90th ave but whatever.

I still say nothing could be worse than the 2005-2008 stretch when glenmore was overhauled. It often happened that backups went all the way down 14th and all the way down 90th to 24th. I could walk down 90th in the morning and pass two 79 buses that ran in 15 minute intervals. Having a ring road would have prevented that.

[Fuzz]

Why would you be crushed for that person? Everyone knew this was coming. They got the bonus of a really nice view for a long time, and probably payed significantly less for the privilege.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Everyone knew this was coming.

Since 1972. There is a significant number of people on this forum who are younger than the plans for this ring road.

I recall when I worked in Cedarbrae (over ten years ago), one of my coworkers whose house backed onto the ROW for the Southland Drive connection to the future ring road was bitching about it. "It's such bulls--t, we don't want a highway back there, that's our dog run," and so on. Like dude, did not you do even the bare minimum amount of inquiry into why your neighbourhood and the one immediately to the north of it had a giant greenspace between them that was curiously shaped like... y'know, like a transportation corridor?

My neighbourhood had some people saying similar things, like 'why are they moving Glenmore Trail so close to us?' It's an expansion that has been planned for eons, and if they move it any further south, they're moving it into Lakeview, expropriating houses style.

[Acey]

Anderson Rd west of Elbow all the way to Stoney is such a beauty now, good work by the city to realize how critical it becomes on opening day - a viable alternative to Glenmore causeway.

[Calgary14]

So in October when the first portion opens is it Glenmore to 146th Ave SW that will be open and then the leg south of that in 2021? Or will the portion opening this October be even smaller?

[Acey]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

So in October when the first portion opens is it Glenmore to 146th Ave SW that will be open and then the leg south of that in 2021? Or will the portion opening this October be even smaller?

Yes, Glenmore to 146 Ave, minus 69 St/Discovery Ridge. Maybe cause that bridge is so damn long it starts to bow in the middle like the Confederation Bridge. Long answer here.

[October 1, 2020] includes the design and construction of approximately 15 kilometers of a new 6- and 8- lane divided freeway (and related appurtenances such as drainage works, street lighting, traffic signals, signage and roadside barriers) on the Calgary Ring Road from 69 Street SW to 146 Avenue SW. The Priority New Infrastructure is located on lands formerly within the Tsuut’ina Nation and is a subset of the New Infrastructure.

Other components of the Priority New Infrastructure include:
Calgary Ring Road interchanges, flyovers and river crossings at the following locations:

• Westhills Way SW;
• Sarcee Trail SW;
• Strathcona Street SW;
• Elbow River;
• 90 Avenue SW;
• Anderson Road SW;
• 130 Avenue SW;
• Fish Creek;
• 146 Avenue SW;
• 37 Street at Glenmore Trail;

and
Pedestrian grade separation north of Anderson Road SW.
In addition, existing roadways, existing grading, and related appurtenances (such as drainage works, lighting, and signage) located within the Project Limits (as defined in Schedule 18) shall form part of the Priority New Infrastructure. This includes but is not limited to:

• the portion of Glenmore Trail from east of 69 Street SW to east of 37 Street W;
  and
• 37 Street SW from Anderson Road SW to 146 Avenue SW.

In the documentation they call it PNI (priority new infrastructure) and RNI (remaining new infrastructure), outlining what is contained in both. "First part" and "second part" is maybe more descriptive.

So 14 St gets bailed out this year, and there's now another proper bridge across Fish Creek so Macleod gets bailed out. To me this section is like 70% of the total benefit of SWRR.

[DiracSpike]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Why would you be crushed for that person? Everyone knew this was coming. They got the bonus of a really nice view for a long time, and probably payed significantly less for the privilege.

I still feel bad for them. Plus that house in particular got ####ed over, they knew the ringroad was coming but I doubt they thought that an overpass was going in over their fence.

[The Yen Man]

Yah, normally I don't have much sympathy for people who don't do their research when buying their property, and dislplay a certain entitlement to things, but that one picture of the backyard where the overpass was literally right next to their backyard, that is as close to an overpass as I have ever seen. I didn't know they could build houses so close to one.

[Slava]

It’s a tough one though. People buy houses knowing that there’s a corridor there and kind of think “yeah, it’s there but nothing will be built there”. Then it is. That one place sucks, but if you start compensation for that case, then it turns into a slippery slope pretty fast.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

Yah, normally I don't have much sympathy for people who don't do their research when buying their property, and dislplay a certain entitlement to things, but that one picture of the backyard where the overpass was literally right next to their backyard, that is as close to an overpass as I have ever seen. I didn't know they could build houses so close to one.

Where is the picture?

[Old Yeller]

From this article:

Margaret says she did extensive research on the ring road project and its plans when they were deciding on whether to purchase their home in 2014. They knew the project would be built adjacent to their property and were in favour of the plans at the time.

Now, Margaret and Mark say, the highway has been moved 50 metres closer to their home and 10 metres higher than what they expected — and they only found out months ago.

Yeah I'm the same, normally I wouldn't feel bad but these two really got the shaft... would they have any sort of legal recourse?

[Fuzz]

But they didn't know any plans back when they bought they house, because they didn't exist. They did know where the TUC was, and that anything was possible in the corridor. All sellers and purchasers were privy to the same info. How the province decided to build it, and change plans is largely irrelevant. This was always a case of buyer beware, and I have little doubt sale prices reflected that.



They can say "well I expected they would do this, or that, or treat us right" but it's our tax dollars, and expectations aren't a legal defence. To expect them to change anything at this point is ridiculous. This thing already costs an obscene amount of money. Lets not do anything that costs a dollar more.

[Acey]

Originally Posted by Old Yeller

Yeah I'm the same, normally I wouldn't feel bad but these two really got the shaft... would they have any sort of legal recourse?

Absolutely not. Though I am curious to see the documents they believe have been amended.

It's DBFO contract, and that D stands for design, i.e.... nothing was in stone till the contract was even signed and final design work was done.

[Ironhorse]

If she really did her homework before buying that house she would have known what the interchanges would look like. Renderings and drawings already existed in 2014. She comes across as a Karen.

[Acey]

I'm starting to feel like there was not a loop ramp in the first iteration of the Anderson interchange that was proposed, but to say a ramp is 10 meters higher than you thought is baffling. Not sure how Karen could have calculated ramp heights based on rudimentary drawings that couldn't possibly have had that information.

There's a whole heap of interchanges on both ring roads that have undergone big changes from the original plans. Biggest one that comes to mind is Stoney/Shaganappi which was ultimately going to be a sprawling three level thing but has been scaled back as the city has changed their minds about what type of road they want Shag to be. Stoney SE/Deerfoot complex was scaled back slightly to take out one entire bridge structure and save cost. The Stoney NE/Deerfoot complex was originally even bigger with another semi-directional flyover like the Henday/Calgary Trail interchange.

From the time some of these things have been drawn up, there have been changes in the way bridges are built and the most economical way to do things - in a P3 project where they're trying to underbid others by millions... an MSE wall might end up 10 meters higher than Karen thought.