Ring Road To Nowhere

[timun]

Originally Posted by Weitz

Doubling down on terrible decision making I see.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The intersection was going to be closed this fall anyway, as 101st goes bye-bye.

[RM14]

It was the same thing with Shaganappi. For better it was determined to not have Shaganppi South continue over the river through Edworthy Park.

[sec304]

So is the 14th street/Stoney NW interchange open yet??

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by timun

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The intersection was going to be closed this fall anyway, as 101st goes bye-bye.

I think the biggest issue here is the access at 69th Street/Stoney is still horrific.

This is just going to compound issues; seems insanely short sighted that no alternate access has been contemplated. Luckily everyone in Springbank and Discovery are livid about it already, so hopefully something happens.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Ducay

I think the biggest issue here is the access at 69th Street/Stoney is still horrific.

This is just going to compound issues; seems insanely short sighted that no alternate access has been contemplated. Luckily everyone in Springbank and Discovery are livid about it already, so hopefully something happens.

I still can't believe they built that overpass at 69th the way they did. Seems like something built out of the 70's.

[Shazam]

Why build something for 1X the price when you can build something twice for 2X the price.

[calf]

Originally Posted by Acey

In this report the Bow/Sarcee interchange was estimated at about $130 million in 2015. For comparison, the diverging diamond at Macleod/162 Ave was $80 million.

Their analysis estimates a 10-25% increase in traffic on Sarcee next month once the SW leg is open. That increase would include the extra traffic already in play from Stoney being open down to Fish Creek, i.e. a baseline prior to October 1 of last year.

What an unimaginable traffic nightmare if they attempted that interchange before west leg was open.

If trucks are taking the Southern ring road and plugging up Sarcee as a result, is there anyway for them to be re-routed to go north on Stoney instead to avoid the backlogs?

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

Having lived in Calgary most of my life, and living only in the NW and considering Anderson Road the "deep south", watching this felt like footage from the Discovery Rover.

I grew up in the NW and now live by MacLeod Tr. South. I've transitioned to using the South of Calgary for all my needs and now going back to the NW feels like driving to Edmonton.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by calf

If trucks are taking the Southern ring road and plugging up Sarcee as a result, is there anyway for them to be re-routed to go north on Stoney instead to avoid the backlogs?

I don't think they would take Sarcee if they are going North. They would go on the east side of Stoney. They already go to Bragg if they are going west.

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by Weitz

I still can't believe they built that overpass at 69th the way they did. Seems like something built out of the 70's.

I laugh because the argument was that there wasn't enough land to do the interchange properly and maintain 100km/h speeds on Stoney. Meanwhile they have no hesitation nuking Glenmore down to 60km/h, or working around those limitations at 16th Ave by building 1,200 flyovers. Apples and oranges for sure, but illustrates the point.

There obviously was a solution to it, either in speeds or throwing more $$ at it, but they chose the cheap option that will clearly have to be rebuilt (its already a cluster-fata let alone with additional pop growth slated for the area).

[Acey]

I went through last week during weekday PM rush and it was fine. Obviously I need to go through in the morning to see it when it's "horrific". Really this is just a repeat of Cranston in 2013 where you know the ring is coming and life will be worse but it's still tilting. Funny to call it something out of the 70s, given that it's built how it is precisely because it's no longer the 70s.

Originally Posted by Ducay

Meanwhile they have no hesitation nuking Glenmore down to 60km/h, or working around those limitations at 16th Ave by building 1,200 flyovers. Apples and oranges for sure, but illustrates the point.

Pretty siginifcant apples and oranges to the extent that it doesn't really mean anything. Glenmore east of Sarcee is not mainline Stoney and a different classification so it's an entirely different set of parameters. Nowhere on mainline Stoney or Henday has the speed limit been compromised. What you describe at Stoney/16 Ave is a system interchange (as opposed to Discovery/69, a service interchange) and is mostly a copy/paste of the system interchange already built at Henday/Gateway with elements of Henday/Yellowhead NE and other changes for topography. Every bridge there exists for a reason, and it's not like they're being built in lieu of improvements to Discovery/69.

It's a P3 project. Lowest bid that meets spec wins.

[you&me]

@Acey - Is there any chance the Glenmore / 37th 60 zone is undone and it goes back to full speed?

In my experience, observing the posted speed and enforcement has been near-zero, which generally seems to work... until you get that one car out of 20 that wants to strictly obey the 60 and causes a huge mess.

[Acey]

Originally Posted by you&me

@Acey - Is there any chance the Glenmore / 37th 60 zone is undone and it goes back to full speed?



In my experience, observing the posted speed and enforcement has been near-zero, which generally seems to work... until you get that one car out of 20 that wants to strictly obey the 60 and causes a huge mess.

I can't pretend like I have any idea what's going on there after watching them pour the barrier last year and nuke it days later. Again, with it being off the ring road mainline, they're more likely to make exceptions for things and adjust so it's definitely possible.

Though it appears I'm mostly defending design decisions, let me make it clear that the speed limit thing going on there and the merge zone is absolute and utter garbage.

[TorqueDog]

That Glenmore / Sarcee section has recently had the 60 KM/H zone shortened... that is, the start of the 80 KM/H zone heading eastbound has been moved west from just before the 37 St interchange to just after the merge right from the Sarcee flyover.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by you&me

@Acey - Is there any chance the Glenmore / 37th 60 zone is undone and it goes back to full speed?

In my experience, observing the posted speed and enforcement has been near-zero, which generally seems to work... until you get that one car out of 20 that wants to strictly obey the 60 and causes a huge mess.

I only drive this once per week now (thank you god) but I see the same. Virtually nobody including myself observes the 60 limit heading SB Sarcee onto EB Glenmore. At least it's relatively short but I still hold out hope they might put the barrier back up when the other connector road (forget the name) opens fully.

BUT OMG there are some stunningly bad drivers out there. Watched a minivan on SB Sarcee/Tsu Tina Trail in the far left land do a three lane cut across at the last second to get onto EB Glenmore. They then proceeded to stay in the left lane again until the last possible second before slamming on the brakes and cutting across all the lanes in order to exit onto 37 St.

[GGG]

Someone will eventually die doing the cut across and at that time they will put the barrier back in.

[Acey]

The accidents in weave scenarios tend to be non-lethal sideswipes, especially in a posted 60 zone. There are far more dangerous weaves on Deerfoot given the speed limit and volume, we're just complaining about this one because of the speed limit juggle. That's not to say nobody will ever die on this weave but there's no shot a single crash would be the reason a barrier goes back in.

[you&me]

Originally Posted by Acey

The accidents in weave scenarios tend to be non-lethal sideswipes, especially in a posted 60 zone. There are far more dangerous weaves on Deerfoot given the speed limit and volume, we're just complaining about this one because of the speed limit juggle. That's not to say nobody will ever die on this weave but there's no shot a single crash would be the reason a barrier goes back in.

Then how about common sense?

[Ahuch]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

That Glenmore / Sarcee section has recently had the 60 KM/H zone shortened... that is, the start of the 80 KM/H zone heading eastbound has been moved west from just before the 37 St interchange to just after the merge right from the Sarcee flyover.

I don't generally believe in conspiracy theories, but if someone told me that CPS sent an undercover cop to engineering school for 4 years in order to get a job with Alberta Transportation and then set that speed limit, I'd be inclined to believe it. I swear even 80 feels slow there.

[Brewmaster]

Originally Posted by Acey

In this report the Bow/Sarcee interchange was estimated at about $130 million in 2015. For comparison, the diverging diamond at Macleod/162 Ave was $80 million.

Their analysis estimates a 10-25% increase in traffic on Sarcee next month once the SW leg is open. That increase would include the extra traffic already in play from Stoney being open down to Fish Creek, i.e. a baseline prior to October 1 of last year.

What an unimaginable traffic nightmare if they attempted that interchange before west leg was open.

Has there been any more talk of the lane reversal on Bow from Sarcee to 37th st (option E) or widening Sarcee between Richmond and Bow (option C) since that report was released? It looks like the only thing that got built was the widening of Sarcee between Richmond and 17th (option B).