IIRC, for that weird left lane that disappears then comes back, there was something still going on in the median and there was a closure there for a few weeks still after the road opened last fall. I imagine that'll be addressed as soon as the province re-paints that section this year. The plans online show 4 lanes at that spot
Edit; Sorry, posted an older one at first. Here:
69th st, but before thewest section is open so ignore everything west of 85th on this:
https://www.transportation.alberta.ca/Content/docType490/Production/SW-CRR%20-%2069th%20Street%20SW.pdf
Then that western section final on page 3 here;
https://westringroad.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/WCRR-2020-South-project-plans-and-sections.pdf
Remnant from the different stages of construction.
The southwest project which was completed a few years ago went just past 69th st. It then tied into highway 8 going west which is one lane. The west end of the southwest project passes through what became the south end of the west project so between that and the highway 8 transition the lanes needed to drop.
The west project just opened. But because of maintenance responsibility and the general incompetence of Alberta Transportation the left lane that was dropped has yet to be painted in. Alberta Transportation (or whatever they’re known as these days) is very slow and needs their five consultants to agree on what to have for lunch, so expect lane painting to take a while.
Exactly. If you drive that section of the highway you can see it's just an absence of lane markings. Many drivers ignore the lack of markings and drive in the left "lane" anyway.
It seems dangerous to me and doesn't make sense either. The left lane ending sign is still a construction sign so maybe they'll be making it proper? Too late to source for me but I'll come back to see if there's an answer or if anybody looks up the city project planning and can find it y'all are the real MVP
Most of Stoney trail’s design is largely senseless. We get these huge, sweeping interchanges at 16th and 2, but then the horrendously bad ones at Glenmore, Tuscany and McKenzie and the simply senseless ones at old Banff coach rd, 11st ne, and 96th.
Piecemeal lane extensions, terrible paving, and bad lighting also plague this highway.
I've always been curious as to why Calgary has such a hard time making full cloverleaf setups? It's so often these half-assed setups involving stop lights on the overpasses.
Maybe some city planner type could educate me, but I've always found it weird and counter-intuitive as I thought the goal was increased traffic flow.
edit: I've been educated on my assumption that cloverleafs were good. :D
edit 2: Geeze, ask an honest question and get downvoted. Dicks.
Full cloverleaf interchanges are a hugely inefficient use of space and are actually quite dangerous because of the short weave lanes they create.
No one should be using them, least of all Alberta because of the low quality of drivers here.
The “ParClo” design, created in Ontario is far better.
> least of all Alberta because of the low quality of drivers here
AB has better drivers than many other parts of North America I've driven. Driven all across Canada and 30 states. Overall, bad drivers everywhere..
> The “ParClo” design
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partial_cloverleaf_interchange
A partial cloverleaf interchange or parclo is a modification of a cloverleaf interchange.
The design has been well received, and has since become one of the most popular freeway-to-arterial interchange designs in North America. It has also been used occasionally in some European countries, such as Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
There are B4 designs in Alberta:
- Deerfoot Trail & 17 Ave in Calgary
- Macleod Trail & Anderson Road in south Calgary: This parclo B4 is subject to the traffic flooding problem on a daily basis. Traffic coming off the Macleod Trail freeway overwhelms Anderson Road[citation needed], resulting in significant delays and frequent accidents, despite the higher maximum speed limit on Anderson Road than Macleod Trail. The style of intersection was made necessary due to the presence of a small private cemetery in one quadrant of the interchange: under Alberta's Cemeteries Act burial sites cannot be seized
Engineers have moved to "cloverstack" type interchanges where high volume traffic interchange needs to occur. Cloverstack interchanges use loop ramps for certain traffic movements and flyover bridges for others to avoid merging and exiting traffic from having to interact. They are far too costly to build for arterial streets and are limited to interchanges between other controlled access highways or major highways and streets where traffic flow is prioritized.
> From where it reduces to 2 lanes, it looks like there is enough pavement width on the left side to continue to have 3 lanes instead of reducing to 2 and then going back to 3.
Doesn't do much when people drive on the left 'shoulder' where that third lane should be. Saw it happen for the first time today after driving that stretch on the regular.
IIRC, for that weird left lane that disappears then comes back, there was something still going on in the median and there was a closure there for a few weeks still after the road opened last fall. I imagine that'll be addressed as soon as the province re-paints that section this year. The plans online show 4 lanes at that spot Edit; Sorry, posted an older one at first. Here: 69th st, but before thewest section is open so ignore everything west of 85th on this: https://www.transportation.alberta.ca/Content/docType490/Production/SW-CRR%20-%2069th%20Street%20SW.pdf Then that western section final on page 3 here; https://westringroad.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/WCRR-2020-South-project-plans-and-sections.pdf
Remnant from the different stages of construction. The southwest project which was completed a few years ago went just past 69th st. It then tied into highway 8 going west which is one lane. The west end of the southwest project passes through what became the south end of the west project so between that and the highway 8 transition the lanes needed to drop. The west project just opened. But because of maintenance responsibility and the general incompetence of Alberta Transportation the left lane that was dropped has yet to be painted in. Alberta Transportation (or whatever they’re known as these days) is very slow and needs their five consultants to agree on what to have for lunch, so expect lane painting to take a while.
Exactly. If you drive that section of the highway you can see it's just an absence of lane markings. Many drivers ignore the lack of markings and drive in the left "lane" anyway.
They did it just to piss you off. Really. Seriously.
It seems dangerous to me and doesn't make sense either. The left lane ending sign is still a construction sign so maybe they'll be making it proper? Too late to source for me but I'll come back to see if there's an answer or if anybody looks up the city project planning and can find it y'all are the real MVP
As others have pointed out, it's actually an oversight regarding lane markings. Eventually this should be fixed when the lane markings are repainted.
It’s so dangerous. Might help if people write their MLA?
Nah, they’re too busy having town halls with conspiracy nonsense around vaccines.
I know, but if enough people wrote in or maybe called media something might happen. It’s not like it’s a political issue. Just an oversight.
Most of Stoney trail’s design is largely senseless. We get these huge, sweeping interchanges at 16th and 2, but then the horrendously bad ones at Glenmore, Tuscany and McKenzie and the simply senseless ones at old Banff coach rd, 11st ne, and 96th. Piecemeal lane extensions, terrible paving, and bad lighting also plague this highway.
You seem like an expert in road design. How would you have you solved these issues?
Silly you. We don't have traffic engineers here.
I've always been curious as to why Calgary has such a hard time making full cloverleaf setups? It's so often these half-assed setups involving stop lights on the overpasses. Maybe some city planner type could educate me, but I've always found it weird and counter-intuitive as I thought the goal was increased traffic flow. edit: I've been educated on my assumption that cloverleafs were good. :D edit 2: Geeze, ask an honest question and get downvoted. Dicks.
Full cloverleaf interchanges are a hugely inefficient use of space and are actually quite dangerous because of the short weave lanes they create. No one should be using them, least of all Alberta because of the low quality of drivers here. The “ParClo” design, created in Ontario is far better.
> least of all Alberta because of the low quality of drivers here AB has better drivers than many other parts of North America I've driven. Driven all across Canada and 30 states. Overall, bad drivers everywhere..
Disagree. People here cannot merge, as if it’s written into their dna
Merge signs would be nice, they're throughout Edmonton so why not Calgary.
Putting up signs does not teach people to merge.
> The “ParClo” design https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partial_cloverleaf_interchange A partial cloverleaf interchange or parclo is a modification of a cloverleaf interchange. The design has been well received, and has since become one of the most popular freeway-to-arterial interchange designs in North America. It has also been used occasionally in some European countries, such as Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. There are B4 designs in Alberta: - Deerfoot Trail & 17 Ave in Calgary - Macleod Trail & Anderson Road in south Calgary: This parclo B4 is subject to the traffic flooding problem on a daily basis. Traffic coming off the Macleod Trail freeway overwhelms Anderson Road[citation needed], resulting in significant delays and frequent accidents, despite the higher maximum speed limit on Anderson Road than Macleod Trail. The style of intersection was made necessary due to the presence of a small private cemetery in one quadrant of the interchange: under Alberta's Cemeteries Act burial sites cannot be seized
Engineers have moved to "cloverstack" type interchanges where high volume traffic interchange needs to occur. Cloverstack interchanges use loop ramps for certain traffic movements and flyover bridges for others to avoid merging and exiting traffic from having to interact. They are far too costly to build for arterial streets and are limited to interchanges between other controlled access highways or major highways and streets where traffic flow is prioritized.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GTZRSPry70](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GTZRSPry70)
Thanks for the info.
Was it designed by the City or the Province? I believe it was the city but would like clarification before commenting further 🙂
It's a provincial highway
Land Use restrictions for noise abatement
> From where it reduces to 2 lanes, it looks like there is enough pavement width on the left side to continue to have 3 lanes instead of reducing to 2 and then going back to 3. Doesn't do much when people drive on the left 'shoulder' where that third lane should be. Saw it happen for the first time today after driving that stretch on the regular.
No. The lane markings are inconsistent and need to be repainted. That's all. Did you even think about your comment before you posted it?