Calgary Roads Discussion Thread

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by D as in David

Sounds like you're saying Ogden Road washing is on its last legs.

At least it's washing its legs.

[D as in David]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

At least it's washing its legs.

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by timun

It's part of why urban planners moved away from street grids to "curvilinear" street patterns with crescents and culs-de-sac: if you live on a crescent or cul-de-sac there shouldn't be anybody driving on it other than your immediate neighbours living on the same street.

Newer communities are moving away from that and back to more grid-like designs, which is a good thing! Curvilinear community roads are extremely inefficient.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

Newer communities are moving away from that and back to more grid-like designs, which is a good thing! Curvilinear community roads are extremely inefficient.

They're not grids. Grids are considered unsafe because drivers find it easy to speed on them.

[DigitalCarpenter]

Originally Posted by btimbit

https://www.deerfootimprovements.ca/...ottom-trail-2/

Looks like they're just eliminating weaves. I wish you could see Southland better in that plan though, I'm curious where exactly you exit SB deerfoot to get to Anderson or bow bottom, and if Southland traffic can still get to SB deerfoot. Is that weave gonna still exist, but just not on deerfoot itself?

Edit: oh did you mean just the ivor strong bridge itself? You can kinda see it there, which is odd because it's more than the page for the bridge itself shows. I think that's just twinning the bridge and adding more lanes, nothing else

Ya that looks way better than what we have now, the current lane that goes to bowbottom / anderson is a nightmare during rush hour, I have resorted to going back to the 130th exit onto north deerfoot just so I can get in the left lane and avoid the mess entirely.

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by Shazam

They're not grids. Grids are considered unsafe because drivers find it easy to speed on them.

They are grid-like, not grids. The only reason grids would be unsafe is because the roads are too open to allow people to speed. Using traffic calming and intersection treatments like roundabouts will slow cars down too. Go look at newer communities like Redstone or Livingston to see how different the road networks are compared to any community built in the early 2000s. The older communities made intentionally circtuitous routes which increases travel times for regular users and makes transit routes less viable. Lot sizes are more variable in older communities too. The newer communities give you more direct routing to your destination and more efficiently use land too.

[timun]

Mazrim, do you work in neighbourhood development? Curious what your thoughts are on the idea that the "curvilinear" model was 'better' from a land-use standpoint because if you look at the aggregate land usage they actually used less space on roadways. I remember reading some literature about the "grid" design and one of the chief arguments for moving away from it in the '60s was the idea that a grid—especially with alleys—used a far higher proportion of the developable land on roads.

[KelVarnsen]

wpBakery is gross

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by timun

Mazrim, do you work in neighbourhood development? Curious what your thoughts are on the idea that the "curvilinear" model was 'better' from a land-use standpoint because if you look at the aggregate land usage they actually used less space on roadways. I remember reading some literature about the "grid" design and one of the chief arguments for moving away from it in the '60s was the idea that a grid—especially with alleys—used a far higher proportion of the developable land on roads.

Nah, I've purposely avoided neighbourhood development! I'm just repeating what I've been told in the past, and I believe Bunk has talked about this topic here on CP in the past. I know there are older communities that have curvilinear roads and alleys, so apparently it's not always the first choice to omit them. I don't have any math handy to support it, but I'm willing to bet that even with alleys, the overall lot counts are very similar due to shrinking lot sizes over the years.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

They are grid-like, not grids. The only reason grids would be unsafe is because the roads are too open to allow people to speed. Using traffic calming and intersection treatments like roundabouts will slow cars down too. Go look at newer communities like Redstone or Livingston to see how different the road networks are compared to any community built in the early 2000s. The older communities made intentionally circtuitous routes which increases travel times for regular users and makes transit routes less viable. Lot sizes are more variable in older communities too. The newer communities give you more direct routing to your destination and more efficiently use land too.

Yeah, I see the difference. I suppose you could call them grid-like. I don't really think they are. Need some other word to describe them.

[calgarygeologist]

Are the induction loop controls at traffic lights widely used across Canada or does Calgary have a significant amount of these? I ask because so many drivers have been pissing me off lately (and this could go in the gear grinder thread) by stopping to far back on the intersection and not triggering the lights. A bad one that I run into often is the dual turn from Shaganappi onto Dalhousie Drive. The other weekend it was backed up with 20+ cars in each lane because the idiots up front in both lanes were too far back. I had arrived and waited for three lights before they finally moved up and triggered the arrow and cars had already been waiting ahead of me.

Often times I see the cars that are too far back with pretty new plates so I wonder if they are new to Calgary and unfamiliar with the loops. Old people are often bad for this as well.

[chedder]

Airport trail west from the stoney ring road was brutal last evening at 7pm. There had to be 100 cars all wanting to turn south into that community using 60 st. I sure hope the plan is for more lanes going to the airport that can just breeze by that mess.

Other than that I love taking the ring road to the airport over deerfoot. Even if it takes a couple extra minutes it's so much nicer and less rage inducing.

[The Fisher Account]

When's the SE Stoney Bridge over the river/Fish Creek supposed to be done?

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by The Fisher Account

When's the SE Stoney Bridge over the river/Fish Creek supposed to be done?

At this rate I think they’re shooting for 2034

[rohara66]

Originally Posted by The Fisher Account

When's the SE Stoney Bridge over the river/Fish Creek supposed to be done?

Never. Infinite construction.

[Amethyst]

Originally Posted by chedder

Airport trail west from the stoney ring road was brutal last evening at 7pm. There had to be 100 cars all wanting to turn south into that community using 60 st. I sure hope the plan is for more lanes going to the airport that can just breeze by that mess.

Other than that I love taking the ring road to the airport over deerfoot. Even if it takes a couple extra minutes it's so much nicer and less rage inducing.

I live in "that community" and it is always bad at that time of day. I don't usually drive that way, but one day I did and it was backed up to where the exit road first leaves Stoney. There are a lot of intersections in this area that are currently awful for getting back up.

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Are the induction loop controls at traffic lights widely used across Canada or does Calgary have a significant amount of these?

Yeah, induction is always the first choice. Cheaper to make and install, low maintenance, and pretty consistent.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

I would love to know what the developer of Strathcona put in the title caveats about that strip mall...if anything. Surely there was some strongly worded language about the temporary road in the approval for that strip mall.



It's far too early to say that a Sarcee/Bow interchange is unneccessary. It's more likely that induced demand will take that intersection well over failure soon enough, so making sure they have a plan in place for when it's needed is a good idea.

Heh, looks like the whole strip is up for sale...maybe hoping for a buyer who does zero due dilligence?

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...type=top_picks


I don't know if I ever responded to your second point, but IMO the demand for Sarcee traffic can be easily managed if the city so chooses (reduce speed limit, add signalled ped crossings on either side of Bow Tr). It could still be an effective arterial, but absolute vehicle efficiency need not be the sole objective with bigger freeways running parallel roughly 4km on either side