News   Apr 03, 2020
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Roads, Highways & Infrastructure

Anyone know what's happening on 12Ave at 5st SW? They have the whole road closed and what looks like the south sidewalk and about 1 lane dug up for like 20', but the entire road is closed and traffic is brutal.
 
This is probably off topic but it involves roads and right of ways so I thought smart people might be able to answer this.
When you have a rural road that ends, but the right of way continues through the land beyond the ending of the road, is that public access?

e.g. Ranche Rd near Cochrane. It heads east but ends at a fence
1689089562819.png


You can see the accessible route from the streetview highlighting (inside the red box)
But according to the Spin2 system the road right of way continues along the purple line and indeed there is a rough track along that route all the way to Big Hill Springs provincial park

1689089633189.png


Example of what's beyond the fence
1689089691464.png


Anyway, always been curious about the legality about public access in such cases.
 
Interesting question, and I don't know the exact answer for this particular road, but I think (don't rely on this as legal advice, if you are, please get a proper check done and don't just use this comment) the local jurisdiction has full control over road ROWs within their boundaries. The City of Calgary has a Controlled Streets Bylaw, and it might give them the athority to close access to roadways. My understanding is that each titled parcel is to be ensured road access, so if there is an alternate access available to the parcels that border this closed portion, perhaps the County (assuming that is whose jurisdiction this falls in) has decided to close this for liability purposes.
 

Based on the progress, I would expect Old Banff Coach road to the Trans Canada portion will be open by October 1st
I used to wonder about that, but I'll be very surprised if it happens. The OBCR interchange is part of the south segment, which has the Oct 2024 deadline. I suspect the Burnco yard to the NW of the interchange will still play an important role in completing the rest of the leg...they could maintain access fairly easily, but it would be a bit more complicated if OBCR has new intersections instead of it's current form.

Moreover, I'm not sure it would actually be a net positive. As someone who lives in the area, there are situations where it would be kinda nice. But I think it could backfire horribly as people try to use various combos of 69th/17th/Bow/85th/OBCR to skip the Sarcee congestion. I think you'd make a very small dent in the Sarcee backups and clog everything else up.
 
I live in the area, and can't wait for it to open. The amount of traffic doing the eastbound to northbound turn at Bow and Sarcee is huge in the afternoon rush hour. This would offer a way to avoid that intersection, and perhaps allow the City to rejig the timing of the lights at Bow / Sarcee to provide some relief. Fingers crossed.
 
Great to see that twin Bow River bridge open. 👍🏼

In other news - there is now equipment on site at the south end of Deerfoot at Southland, Anderson, and the Ivor Stong bridge.
 
Great to see that twin Bow River bridge open. 👍🏼

In other news - there is now equipment on site at the south end of Deerfoot at Southland, Anderson, and the Ivor Stong bridge.
Procurement isn't even done yet if you're talking about the Deerfoot improvements. The equipment by the Ivor Strong specifically is just Enmax putting in some manholes and conduit to support substation upgrades.
 

Based on the progress, I would expect Old Banff Coach road to the Trans Canada portion will be open by October 1st
Drove over the new (west) Bow River Bridge today.
Now they are working on the old (east) bridge. Is this just rehab or do they need to widen the existing bridge ?
 
It would be interesting to see the results of a poll to Calgarians, what would you rather spend $6 billion on:
a. Approximately 65 interchanges throughout the city; or
b. A train from Eau Claire to Shepard.

Would the interchanges cost us $40 million a year in operating losses?
It would overwhelmingly be the interchanges, just as it would be in most other North American cities. Unfortunately it’s that same mentality that got us to the problems we’re facing today. This mentality of having billions of roads going in every direction, everywhere to make it convenient for drivers can’t last forever.
 
It would overwhelmingly be the interchanges, just as it would be in most other North American cities. Unfortunately it’s that same mentality that got us to the problems we’re facing today. This mentality of having billions of roads going in every direction, everywhere to make it convenient for drivers can’t last forever.
Not to be too nitpicky this morning, but I just felt the need to respond to this post. Can you expand on what problems we are facing today?

We are consistently ranked one of the most liveable cities in the world. Our traffic congestion is a fraction of what other major cities face. We still have relatively affordable housing. And our C-train was (is?... not sure post covid, but think it is has mostly recovered) the highest ridership per capita in North America.
 

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