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Old 09-29-2021, 03:20 PM   #1
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Default Calgary Roads Discussion Thread

Figured we could use a separate thread from the Ring Road one to discuss the status of various road works and plans in the city, and more importantly, gripe about how horrible the Roads department at the City of Calgary is.


My overarching complaint is that the City Roads dept is given carte blanche for a huge volume of work (more like re-work) at intersections where it is not critical. However under the guise of safety, etc, these are pushed through the City's capital budget with relative ease. I think the roads dept needs to have a much tighter leash - any candidate for council/mayor that explicitly supports nuking their budget by two thirds will receive my vote. I swear between all the rebuilding they are doing and poorly designed intersections & light timings, their departmental goal is to make everyone's commute as long and painful as possible.


Current gripes:
- Tearing out and rebuilding huge number of intersections to add "calming" features (raised right-hand yields, bump outs) that only impede traffic and add delays.

- Adding infinite amounts of new controlled intersections (both inner city and suburbs) and advance green lights where it is insane overkill and slows traffic.

and the piece-de-resistance:
- The horrific decision to rebuild both 16th Ave and Bowness road at the same time. I feel for anyone in Montgomery or commuting in the area regularly, seems like the most jaw-droppingly boneheaded decision ever (and I only go through there once or twice a month). Bonus points for the Bowness rework because they're also adding insane amounts of traffic calming.

I could go on for days about everything that group has botched in the last 6 years. Swear my blood pressure rises by 10 every time I drive in this city and see their latest handy work.
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Old 09-29-2021, 03:24 PM   #2
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Old 09-29-2021, 03:27 PM   #3
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The city serves 1.3 million people, not just you and your neighbors. Sometimes they're gonna do something that sucks for you for a few months but serves the greater good. That definitely blows, but it is what it is
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Old 09-29-2021, 03:28 PM   #4
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I'll add all the stupid traffic calming they are littering the central north of 16th area with. The goal is to prevent cut through traffic, I guess, but it just ends up having me drive many more streets navigating around random barriers they decided to throw up.

Unless you know exactly where they are by memory, you are bound to drive more just to get to where you need to go. I tend to use them to get to businesses that are difficult to access from the opposite side, like those on centre street or 16th ave. Last night I discovered a new one, so from that point I had to go over to Edmonton Trail, then loop all the way back to where I was blocked to get to a business.

It's ridiculous, and generally takes traffic off of routes designed for traffic(like 2nd st NW with controlled intersections) and forces you to take more minor roads with uncontrolled crossings where visibility is poor. I don't care about the road speed, but it is less safe.
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Old 09-29-2021, 03:32 PM   #5
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I'll add all the stupid traffic calming they are littering the central north of 16th area with. The goal is to prevent cut through traffic, I guess, but it just ends up having me drive many more streets navigating around random barriers they decided to throw up.

Unless you know exactly where they are by memory, you are bound to drive more just to get to where you need to go. I tend to use them to get to businesses that are difficult to access from the opposite side, like those on centre street or 16th ave. Last night I discovered a new one, so from that point I had to go over to Edmonton Trail, then loop all the way back to where I was blocked to get to a business.

It's ridiculous, and generally takes traffic off of routes designed for traffic(like 2nd st NW with controlled intersections) and forces you to take more minor roads with uncontrolled crossings where visibility is poor. I don't care about the road speed, but it is less safe.
Feel free to take part in the community consultations on those in the future
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Old 09-29-2021, 03:35 PM   #6
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Sorry folks, but this is an abomination

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Old 09-29-2021, 03:35 PM   #7
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Sorry folks, but this is an abomination

I find it works fairly well, but you'd have to talk to Alberta Transport about that one, not the city
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Old 09-29-2021, 03:37 PM   #8
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I'll add all the stupid traffic calming they are littering the central north of 16th area with. The goal is to prevent cut through traffic, I guess, but it just ends up having me drive many more streets navigating around random barriers they decided to throw up.
I love this intersection at 17th Ave / 33rd St SW, where they added a bump out and dedicated right hand turn lane on 33rd SB - forcing the two most popular movements (straight thru and left onto EB 17th) into one congested lane.

The result is lots of people using the alleyway right before the intersection to cut through, people going straight in lanes they shouldn't, illegal u-turns, etc. The intersection is slower, less safe, and not to mention the impacts on the people whose alley is now a major bypass.
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Old 09-29-2021, 03:38 PM   #9
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Feel free to take part in the community consultations on those in the future
Ya, I probably would have but I didn't know they were popping up, having been a pandemic hermit. I really only drive to go get takeout, which Is when I run into those stupid things. It just seems like they never consider unintended consequences when they do stuff like this. The consequence being that yo have vehicles driving more roads further that are less capable of handling it, and you increase road usage everywhere else, when they are already busy.
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Old 09-29-2021, 03:39 PM   #10
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Sorry folks, but this is an abomination

I drove by there for the first time last week and definitely had to read every sign to figure out where I was going. If I had just gone east on what I had thought was Glenmore I would have been heading south on Stoney in no time. Oh well, at least the speed limit was 60 so I had lots of time to read signs.
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Old 09-29-2021, 03:41 PM   #11
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I find it works fairly well, but you'd have to talk to Alberta Transport about that one, not the city
In that case its an Albomination.
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Old 09-29-2021, 03:42 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ducay View Post
Current gripes:
- Tearing out and rebuilding huge number of intersections to add "calming" features (raised right-hand yields, bump outs) that only impede traffic and add delays.

- Adding infinite amounts of new controlled intersections (both inner city and suburbs) and advance green lights where it is insane overkill and slows traffic.

and the piece-de-resistance:
- The horrific decision to rebuild both 16th Ave and Bowness road at the same time. I feel for anyone in Montgomery or commuting in the area regularly, seems like the most jaw-droppingly boneheaded decision ever (and I only go through there once or twice a month). Bonus points for the Bowness rework because they're also adding insane amounts of traffic calming.
Meh. Bowness shouldn't be a thoroughfare in that area.

The construction in that area sucks but 16th Ave was literally falling apart, I don't think it could've gone another winter without gigantic potholes swallowing cars whole. Whoever did that section before did a terrible job.

Quote:
I could go on for days about everything that group has botched in the last 6 years. Swear my blood pressure rises by 10 every time I drive in this city and see their latest handy work.
Overall construction is done WAAAAY better. Gone are the days where entire sections would be closed for months.
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Old 09-29-2021, 03:43 PM   #13
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Sorry folks, but this is an abomination

What's wrong with it?

Driving in LA would scare the hell out of you.
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Old 09-29-2021, 03:48 PM   #14
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What's wrong with it?

Driving in LA would scare the hell out of you.
Yuh, have done it several times and no doubt they have multiple versions of this.
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Old 09-29-2021, 03:51 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ducay View Post
I love this intersection at 17th Ave / 33rd St SW, where they added a bump out and dedicated right hand turn lane on 33rd SB - forcing the two most popular movements (straight thru and left onto EB 17th) into one congested lane.
Incorrect, SB 33rd to WB 17th sees on average 2000 cars a day more than any other direction
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Old 09-29-2021, 03:55 PM   #16
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Yuh, have done it several times and no doubt they have multiple versions of this.
Well then, it should hardly be a surprise to you. It solves a lot of problems.
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Old 09-29-2021, 04:00 PM   #17
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However under the guise of safety, etc, these are pushed through the City's capital budget with relative ease.

Ok well, I'm never too impressed with the City but the drivers here are even worse.

Drivers here still struggle with merging and even obeying yield signs.

Yellow speed signs are a recommendation, not a goddamned absolute.

Blocking intersections when traffic is backed up.

I've been tailgated in the right lane. Like holy crap, how dumb can you be?

One way onto a one way? Yes Jimmy, that left turn on a red IS doable.

Staying in your lane in a double or triple turn?

Advance walk? Yeah, they had to do that because drivers would try to beat pedestrians.

I guess on the bright side driving scams don't seem to be too common here yet.
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Old 09-29-2021, 04:01 PM   #18
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Well then, it should hardly be a surprise to you. It solves a lot of problems.
I didn't say it was a surprise or scary... I just said it's an abomination- but perhaps my remark should have been something more like it is one crazy interchange. You referenced a city with likely the heaviest traffic and complex road system in NA- so the drivers are no doubt acclimatized to these types of interchanges. So instead, in the context of Calgary and what the majority of our drivers are no doubt used to- it is one crazy interchange.
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Old 09-29-2021, 04:04 PM   #19
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I'll bitch about some of the poor road repairs and paving in the city. For anyone that routinely drives southbound on Crowchild Trail you are probably aware of the sunken manhole in the right lane on the bridge that goes over top of the University Drive slip road. Whenever I'm in that lane I always drift to the right side in order to avoid that stupid manhole. This summer the city did road repairs on that section and recently finished paving. Instead of repairing that manhole cover or somehow having an even grade the manhole is still below the road level. I can understand that the road will never be perfectly smooth in these types of situations but it doesn't seem reasonable for that manhole to be a few inches below the road surface.
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Old 09-29-2021, 04:04 PM   #20
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The 37 Street Main Street project baffles me. Not just that they took out a driving lane on a street that rightfully should be a thoroughfare in order to widen the sidewalks, but they also cut down trees to make it happen. Those lanes and moneys should have been directed to a BRT service to MRU instead.
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