Calgary Stoney Trail [Ring Road]

[You Need A Thneed]

AS far as I know, the EB-SB ramp and the NB-EB ramp will become the Eastbound lanes of Crowchild (with a light far south of the bridges), and the WB-NB ramp and the SB-WB will become the Westbound lanes of Crowchild (with a light far north of the bridges). This will allow them to take out the detour of Crowchild and the detour of Stoney.

That the plan that ws on the construction drawings anyway, the contractor may have thought up a different phasing plan for the removing the detours.

[Oliver Klozov]

Hmmmm, I thought of that idea too but it seemed really convoluted so I rejected it. To remove both detours at the same time, not only would EB and WB Crowchild be as you described but NB and SB Stoney would use those ramps as well. That would be like one enormous roundabout! Probably with 4 sets of lights! It would require a lot more temporary roadway, too.

[You Need A Thneed]

Well they won't move both detours at the same time, the detour will be in place to allow them to do both. The detour road for Crowchild has to be removed before Stoney can be moved under the bridges.

[Oliver Klozov]

Well then I'm definitely confused by your first post. Why would they need to move WB and EB Crowchild so far to the north and south and put 2 sets of lights on Stoney? Why not just move them onto the bridges?

[You Need A Thneed]

Originally Posted by Oliver Klozov

Well then I'm definitely confused by your first post. Why would they need to move WB and EB Crowchild so far to the north and south and put 2 sets of lights on Stoney? Why not just move them onto the bridges?

Perhaps to build the EB-'NB ramp, or so that they only have to change the detour once before the road opens in it's final form.

[Oliver Klozov]

I did a little further research and found this on the SPRING 2010 Project Update. You can't copy/paste from the document so I'll just type it verbatim.

NEXT STEPS

- Complete earthworks and start paving on the WB-NB, SB-WB and EB-SB ramps and open to traffic in July 2010 (stage 2)

- Complete construction of the bridges, switch traffic onto the Crowchild Trail ultimate alignment (Stage 3) and remove detour road (anticipated in July-August 2010)

- Start construction of Stoney Trail roadway under Crowchild Trail (Stage 4) (summer-fall 2010)

- Start construction of the LRT extension (City of Calgary) from Crowfoot Centre to Rocky Ridge road


Note that the NB-EB ramp was already open to traffic at the time of this update.

[Seadood]

Thanks Ollie. I'm housesitting in Cochrane this week and commuting to Crowfoot station, so I get a daily update of goings-on in the area. They have started drilling holes for the concrete forms for the overhead signage on EB Crowchild. Perhaps others can comment, but it seems like an inordinate amount of time for the bridgework for NB-WB to be completed. I remember reading that there was a poor pouring and a teardown at the beginning.

[mersar]

The teardown that was mentioned was the SB-EB ramp bridge column, not the NB-WB bridge (which is simply a span resting on two abutments). The SB-EB ramp bridge is actually progressing fast now, they've been working on the bridge deck the last couple times I've been through there. The NB-WB ramp bridge does seem to be taking quite a while though.

[You Need A Thneed]

Nose Hill Drive Interchange update.

Time line says construction starts next year.

[kap384]

Paving machine unloaded on WB > NB a few days ago. Fingers crossed that some paving gets done with the upcoming sunny weather spell.

[BFHeadstone]

Any word on construction of the south east end? There have been many stakes and construction signs put down 22x toward Cranston and McKenzie. Are they just in the planning phase or are they starting construction?

[mersar]

Originally Posted by BFHeadstone

Any word on construction of the south east end? There have been many stakes and construction signs put down 22x toward Cranston and McKenzie. Are they just in the planning phase or are they starting construction?

Construction is well under way. They've been stripping and grading from just north of 22X all the way to just south of 17th ave already, and some stripping also happening at Deerfoot. Work along 22X itself doesn't really start until this fall or next year according to the project site (it lists when work starts at each interchange).

[kap384]

Paving started on the WB > NB ramp 2 days ago. Assuming the weather holds and they just cycle through all of the prepped roadway, shouldn't be long until all the ramps open.

[mersar]

Quite a bit of paving has been done. The WB-NB, SB-WB, SB-EB (on the north of the bridge), WB-SB ramps all have been at least partially paved now.

And they've started installing signage, including the two huge overhead signs on the new Crowchild bridges (structure and signs are in place), and some of the off ramp direction signs heading east bound I also noticed (one is mostly hidden behind another sign currently)

[Seadood]

Drove past the Crow/Stoney interchange last night. Looks like the finishing touches will be placed on the NB-WB bridge work. Can't happen too soon. But it looks like the alignment will have to be put in its final place (on the bridge work) to get the ramp prepped for NB-WB loop. If all goes to plan? One intersection at the bridge head, with only left turn lanes for Stoney NB-WB, and Crow WB-SB. All other turning bays and ramps should be functional. Then the real earthwork can begin, with final alignment of Stoney.

[freeweed]

I noticed this morning that they've painted the lines on the SB->WB ramp, including up to the bridge for SB->EB (although there's no way that it'll be open anytime soon due to other work required). WB->NB still needs at least one more asphalt layer but hopefully soon.

[freeweed]

Well this is odd. The SB->WB ramp got another layer of asphalt yesterday/today. The covered over the painted lines I was talking about earlier - and I'm damn sure these weren't intended to be temporary. They weren't small dots or anything, they were the full-length lane dividing dashes. I've never seen a project paint and them tarmac over them. Could someone have actually screwed up that badly? Seems like everyone on the project should know when paving is going to be done.

That aside, it's now definitely level with the rest of Stoney. This ramp could be open any day now (not sure how long they'll wait in terms of curing, painting, and possibly keeping it closed for use of construction equipment on the bridge, etc).

[Mazrim]

This may sound like a strange question, but how yellow were the paint lines that got painted over? Like, dull yellow or really bright? That tells if they were temporary or not.

My guess though is that someone goofed.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

This may sound like a strange question, but how yellow were the paint lines that got painted over? Like, dull yellow or really bright? That tells if they were temporary or not.

My guess though is that someone goofed.

Really bright white (it's on a ramp so it's just unidirectional traffic). Clearly a mistake, because as of today there's another, and final layer of asphalt down. With the expected white dots (markers for the actual line painters later). Looks like WB->NB is going to get its final layer today, too. Not sure about the other 2 ramps as I don't drive by them often, but they're likely close.

Now it's just a question of how long until they're open. A week or 2 maybe?

Also, the interchange @ Shaganappi is in full gear. Unfortunately they've slowed traffic down in the area to 80 even though no actual work is happening anywhere close to the existing road, but it's a start.

[mersar]

EB to SB has been at least paved a single layer if I'm correct. Whether it would be ready to open with the other 2 ramps is unknown as it connects onto the mainline of Stoney and I'm not sure how much paving has happened on it yet south of the bridges (it had been at least oiled a few weeks back). They were also hauling in gravel for the SB to EB ramp where it merges onto Crowchild yesterday, so that half of the ramp should be getting paved soon (the north half of it has been fully paved it looks like)