Calgary Stoney Trail [Ring Road]

Yeah I realize that. Something is built to a 130 standard. I'll find what it is eventually.

[You Need A Thneed]

Perhaps the 22x is planned to be designed for 130 when it is twinned, and made the number 1 highway all the way to Gliechen is the future.

[freeweed]

As someone who likely drives Stoney Trail a lot more than most of you (both the NW and NE sections, as I drive it almost exclusively to get practically anywhere in the city these days outside of downtown)...

The reason it "slows down" really comes down to one thing: hills. Every place mentioned here lines up with my experiences. People simply can not or do not maintain speed on hills. Big trucks and recreational vehicles often can't, and a surprising number of drivers just seem unwilling to use their gas pedal (or keep an eye on their speed as it slows).

It's the exact same effect on the Calf Robe bridge on Deerfoot. Signed at 100, perfectly safe at 100 - but enough people slow down because they're scared. Get enough traffic volume spreading into the other lanes, and soon enough the entire roadway slows down. Stoney only sees this effect during peak periods though - usually you can get around these nervous nellies by using the lefthand lane(s).

And unfortunately you can't design around this, short of putting in 5 lanes so that you can always get around Grandma. The RH lane is inevitably going 70-80 up these hills. The next lane over might hit 90. You need at least 3 lanes just to be able to hit the speed limit in the LH lane (insert comments from the hall monitors here who will scream at me for even suggesting that one might want to go even 1km over the speed limit in the fast lane).

I suppose they could have routed the road away from the hills a bit more, but the terrain doesn't lend itself to that in the NW. It's also why the NE section seems a bit more "empty" at times - traffic doesn't tend to bottleneck very much because it's essentially a completely flat road.

Overall though I'd be surprised if it sees 1/10th as much traffic as Deerfoot. Which really makes for a pleasant drive at any time of day.

[You Need A Thneed]

I don't think I've seen it mentioned - Glenmore Trail now goes over the new bridge, the detour is gone.

Originally Posted by freeweed

The reason it "slows down" really comes down to one thing: hills. Every place mentioned here lines up with my experiences.

Especially eastbound right after Beddington with all that turning traffic coming right off the ramp. The extra lane will help here more than anywhere.

Originally Posted by You Need A Thneed

I don't think I've seen it mentioned - Glenmore Trail now goes over the new bridge, the detour is gone.

I wonder how many decades till they build the EB-NB flyover at Glenmore? I feel like that dual turn might actually back up a bit in the afternoon rush. I already know of several people who work in the SE and live in the north that will be using this route.

52 St and McKenzie/Cranston should be onto their bridges within weeks as well.

2011 traffic numbers.

All of NW Stoney: 29k, 32k summer
NW Stoney between Shag and Beddington: 46k, 51k summer

Deerfoot between Memorial and 16 Ave N: 158k, 159k summer
Deerfoot from Okotoks to Balzac: 95k, 99k

Henday from Yellowhead in the east to Yellowhead in the west: 46k, 49k summer

http://www.transportation.alberta.ca/Content/docType181/production/VC2011.pdf

Wow. So Deerfoot at its busiest is only 3x Stoney at its busiest, and that's 2011, it would have narrowed since then and will narrow even more once the SE is open.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Acey

52 St and McKenzie/Cranston should be onto their bridges within weeks as well.

Yesterday they removed the streetlight that would have litterally been in the middle of the road.



I noticed it because they had the rest of the road graded and ready for the gravel; I'm guessing they needed the City to come remove the streetlight and do the electrical.

The approach to the NB basketweave is paved, streetlights up. They look ready to pave the new NB-EB ramp soon. Crazy progress in very little time. For the first time I've thought to myself, they might actually get this done in time...

This pic I took in April... I think these center piers are temporary!? I swear they're not there any more. This confused the hell out of me.

[You Need A Thneed]

The current WB 22x to SB Deerfoot connection really fooled me. It's so far west (almost at Cranston interchange, that I thought that I must have missed the turnoff.

Also, there's no signage telling you where you need to go for that turn.

[Peachycarnihan]

Originally Posted by Acey

This pic I took in April... I think these center piers are temporary!? I swear they're not there any more. This confused the hell out of me.

Those bridge structures are quite long (for a single span) steel girder bridges. As such, they need a temporary prop to stabilize them until the deck concrete has sufficient strength. When the deck concrete is placed and cured, the bridge superstructure is strong enough for the prop to be removed.

Normally, temporary props like this are steel. However, the loads in this case were so high it was easier to use temporary reinforced concrete piers and remove them later. The diagonal steel bracing you can see in the picture just provided some required horizontal restraint. Eastbound traffic should be under there in 1-2 weeks.

[You Need A Thneed]

There are signs up around 17th/Stoney that talk about having to use an alternate route to get from one to the other for the first half of August.

Still trying to find more details.

Originally Posted by Peachycarnihan

Those bridge structures are quite long (for a single span) steel girder bridges.

What is the determining factor for steel vs concrete bridges in this project? Seems you can go longer with concrete, like the mainline bridges over 114 Ave, which I still can't believe are only one span?

Even within this interchange, these 2 bridge are steel, but then the long one over the SB lanes is concrete. EB-NB flyover is steel, but the single lane bridge from Cranston is concrete, etc.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by Acey

What is the determining factor for steel vs concrete bridges in this project?

Cost. The functional plan that they bid against would not specify materials.

One most cost more than the other, my point was that there's a mix match of them all throughout the project. Long steel, short steel, long concrete, short concrete... there's more to it.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by You Need A Thneed

The current WB 22x to SB Deerfoot connection really fooled me. It's so far west (almost at Cranston interchange, that I thought that I must have missed the turnoff.

Also, there's no signage telling you where you need to go for that turn.

They did have a sign up before; one of those flashing text signs. I'm pretty sure it said something like "New SB Deerfoot exit- keep left 800 metres."

I recall it because I thought it was the first time they hadn't mislead people.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by Acey

One most cost more than the other, my point was that there's a mix match of them all throughout the project. Long steel, short steel, long concrete, short concrete... there's more to it.

They are custom built as well. So lead time and manufacturing slots are probably factors.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by You Need A Thneed

The current WB 22x to SB Deerfoot connection really fooled me. It's so far west (almost at Cranston interchange, that I thought that I must have missed the turnoff.

Also, there's no signage telling you where you need to go for that turn.

I drive it all the time and still have troubles.

[craner]

Originally Posted by Peachycarnihan

Those bridge structures are quite long (for a single span) steel girder bridges. As such, they need a temporary prop to stabilize them until the deck concrete has sufficient strength. When the deck concrete is placed and cured, the bridge superstructure is strong enough for the prop to be removed.

Normally, temporary props like this are steel. However, the loads in this case were so high it was easier to use temporary reinforced concrete piers and remove them later. The diagonal steel bracing you can see in the picture just provided some required horizontal restraint. Eastbound traffic should be under there in 1-2 weeks.

Thanks for the info - I was wondering about these piers too (thought they were permanent).

[You Need A Thneed]

Originally Posted by Acey

This pic I took in April... I think these center piers are temporary!? I swear they're not there any more. This confused the hell out of me.

I can see why someone might think those were intended to be permanent, and honestly, I never thought about it either.

However, seeing that picture, and thinking about it, I can clearly see that they were temporary. Even ignoring the diagonal braces, the whole bridge would have been constructed differently had they been permanent.