Highways in Canada

[milomilo]

The instant the NE leg of Stoney opened the TCH should have been routed onto it. Having it on 16th is embarrassing.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by milomilo

Just look at those drawings though. The guy clearly had a mental disorder and had a thing for drawing roads where every road had to have a freeflow ramp to every other road. I guarantee no actual thought was put in to whether those interchanges and roads made any sense. It's fine for a lunatic to draw these things on paper, but why he was allowed anywhere near the cities' planning departments is amazing.

I can forgive underestimating road demand and underbuilding roads and intersections or just cheaping out. But the interchanges I've mentioned have no basis in sense, they were just mindless constructions with ramps connecting any which way, seemingly for the sake of building ramps. And just because 'that' the way things were' doesn't mean we should forgive it. I agree it's not just one person's fault but many.

[dmuzika]

Originally Posted by Corndogger

I think the province has plans to do some rerouting east of the city and to use Glenmore Trail. I seldom drive to the far eastern reaches of Glenmore but I can't imagine there are too many places left where they need to build interchanges. They're building two more right now, correct? Outside of the city it should be relatively easily to reroute the highway. On the west end of the city the tie-in to Stoney or whatever they end up calling it (I vote just to use 201) will work out perfectly. It's something that should have been done decades ago.

The original idea was to have the TCH follow Hwys 901 & 22X from the east and then follow the west ring road, but it received too much opposition as it bypassed too much of Calgary.

I agree that the TCH could use Glenmore Trail, even if it didn't use the future Stoney Trail it could use Sarcee Trail which is further in the city, there are only 2 sets of lights between 16 Ave and Glenmore Trail and the ROW exists to build interchanges if necessary - the future Stoney Tr means they'll probably never be built. Also, if the TCH followed Sarcee, travelers would see this view of downtown Calgary. The city is building an interchange at Ogden Road, (finally!) a bridge over the CP line, and staged ramps for a future diamond interchange at Barlow Trail, so the worst part of eastern Glenmore Trail is being dealt with (see http://www.calgary.ca/Transportation/TI/...Ogden-Road-S.E.-Interchange-Project.aspx). After that the ROW exists for interchanges at 52 St E, 68 St E, and an upgraded interchange at Stoney Trail (it's part of the plan as an ultimate stage).

The government of Alberta also posted ultimate plans to twin and construct interchanges along Hwy 560 (see http://www.transportation.alberta.ca/projects/calgary.aspx and click on Hwy 560), so tying it into TCH 1 near Strathmore wouldn't be too difficult.

Originally Posted by lubicon

Class 6 dangerous goods are banned on the Glenmore Causeway so it makes little sense to make it part of the TCH system. Besides, we now have Stoney Trail which does a decent job circumnavigating the city. And will be better yet once it is finished. It may make more sense to route the TCH along the south side of Calgary on Stoney and then up the west if it is going to be moved at all.

Class 6 could use Stoney Trail (do you really want Class 6 going down 16 Ave?), but the rest of the traffic could use Glenmore, as it provides decent connections to the rest of the city via Deerfoot, Macleod, and Crowchild Trails - it's a significant upgrade to 16 Avenue. Also, I've compared times in driving Stoney Trail north and 16 Avenue - outside peak periods it's pretty much the same amount of time to take Hwy 201 around north Calgary as it is to drive 16 Ave. From 1/201 (east) and 1/201 (west), it's 24 km via 16 Ave and 42 km via Stoney Trail.

[milomilo]

Or just have it go on the northern half of Stoney, which has been in place for years? Yes it's a few kilometres longer, but it's a far more appropriate route. If truckers really want to go a different route there is nothing stopping them.

[Airboy]

63 from Grassland all the way to McMurray is now twined and opened all the way. Made for a pleasant drive until the hour wait getting clearance to enter the city.

[kxl]

Originally Posted by milomilo

Or just have it go on the northern half of Stoney, which has been in place for years? Yes it's a few kilometres longer, but it's a far more appropriate route. If truckers really want to go a different route there is nothing stopping them.

A 20-km detour? Which is almost as long as taking 16 Ave from one Stoney interchange to the other?

[milomilo]

Originally Posted by kxl

A 20-km detour? Which is almost as long as taking 16 Ave from one Stoney interchange to the other?

Yes, that's correct. In good traffic, the difference in travel time will be negligible and in bad traffic it could be a lot quicker so the distance is irrelevant to a long distance driver. And more importantly, it gets that bypassing traffic off of 16th Ave. Any sane driver will already be taking this route, but moving the TCH designation makes it 'official' and will help route finding for anyone unfamiliar.

[dmuzika]

Originally Posted by milomilo

Yes, that's correct. In good traffic, the difference in travel time will be negligible and in bad traffic it could be a lot quicker so the distance is irrelevant to a long distance driver. And more importantly, it gets that bypassing traffic off of 16th Ave. Any sane driver will already be taking this route, but moving the TCH designation makes it 'official' and will help route finding for anyone unfamiliar.

Without question, "any sane driver" going from Hwy 2 north to Hwy 1 west will take Stoney Trail north, but the 20 km detour is almost twice the distance for east-west traffic. I would wager there's a better chance of the TCH following the SW ring road and 22X than the north portion. The other Canadian comparable is Winnipeg where the distance between the west and east Hwy 1/100/101 interchanges is 30 km via Hwy 1 through downtown Winnipeg and 40 km via TCH 100 (Perimeter Hwy south) - a 10 km difference and a clear time difference using the bypass.

To put it another way, the distance between Hwy 1/201 in west Calgary and Hwy 1/24 near Stathmore is 52 km via Hwy 1 (16 Ave) and 72 km via Hwy 201. If you took via Sarcee Trail, Glenmore Trail, and Hwy 560 to Langdon and then a diagonal line northeast to Hwy 1/24 (it's all undeveloped), it would be approx 58 km - a 6 km detour that could be free-flow through Calgary.

[milomilo]

But none of that has been built, and only SW Stoney will be, 6 years from now. Stoney Trail north is already in place, and should have been the TCH route as soon as the NE portion opened. There's no need to talk hypotheticals, we have a high quality route for the TCH already.

It may be a 20 km detour, but it's 100km/h (but should be 110km/h+) with no lights, rather than a mix of low speed roads with lots of lights and congestion.

[Kokkei Mizu]

Highway 3 through Lethbridge, AB:

• Video Link

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by Kokkei Mizu

Highway 3 through Lethbridge, AB:

• Video Link

Any plans to upgrade it to a freeway through Lethbridge? Even though it would be hard to maintain a speed limit higher than 80 km/h through the city.

[SignalHillHiker]

A few from NL Tourism.

Cycling Near the Tablelands by Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism, on Flickr

Winding Road in Lourdes by Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism, on Flickr

Driving in Gros Morne National Park by Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism, on Flickr

Driving Through Burin by Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism, on Flickr

Drving through Little Bay East by Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism, on Flickr

Drive to Bay L'Argent by Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism, on Flickr

Marble Mountain, Western Newfoundland by Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism, on Flickr

Marble Mountain, Western Newfoundland by Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism, on Flickr

The Tablelands, Gros Morne National Park by Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism, on Flickr

Gros Morne National Park by Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism, on Flickr

Table Lands, Gros Morne National Park by Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism, on Flickr

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

A few from NL Tourism.
Cycling Near the Tablelands by Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism, on Flickr
[], on Flickr

If it wasn't for the cyclists on the right hand side of the road this could be NW Scotland.

[esquire]

Those NL views are spectacular...where are those places? I sure don't remember seeing anything like that while driving to Bonavista.

[SignalHillHiker]

Almost all are along the west coast of the island, except the ones labelled Little Bay East and Bay L'Argent. Both of those are along the south coast.

The west coast is the prettiest part, and most varied, topographically.

The Bonavista Peninsula, and most of the northeast and north coast, is much flatter.

Central has rolling hills but nothing especially high.

Avalon and Eastern tend to have more plateaus at height, so the highways are up there, far from the coast.

Central:

Newfoundland road by a.w.e.s.o.m.e, on Flickr

Northern:

_MG_9523.jpg by Steven's Photostream, on Flickr

Northeast:

The Discovery Trail by Old, on Flickr

[esquire]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Almost all are along the west coast of the island, except the ones labelled Little Bay East and Bay L'Argent. Both of those are along the south coast.

The west coast is the prettiest part, and most varied, topographically.

The Bonavista Peninsula, and most of the northeast and north coast, is much flatter.

Central has rolling hills but nothing especially high.

Avalon and Eastern tend to have more plateaus at height, so the highways are up there, far from the coast.

So you guys put your most interesting and scenic tourist areas at opposite ends of the island, separated by an eight-hour long gauntlet filled with moose doing their best to kill you. Is this some kind of sadistic joke?

[SignalHillHiker]

Nah, just history. Dublin is on the wrong side of Ireland too.

EDIT: The one that says Burin is south coast too. Missed that.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by esquire

So you guys put your most interesting and scenic tourist areas at opposite ends of the island, separated by an eight-hour long gauntlet filled with moose doing their best to kill you. Is this some kind of sadistic joke?

I think it is payback for all the Newfie jokes we made up.

"How many Canadians can cross The Rock without hitting a moose?" "None"

[odogfo]

Originally Posted by milomilo

The instant the NE leg of Stoney opened the TCH should have been routed onto it. Having it on 16th is embarrassing.

Sure, but leaving the THC on 16th brings business to the city.

[Daveography]

Update on Anthony Henday Drive Northeast from CTV

Some photos from May:













Source & more photos here:
http://www.northeastanthonyhenday.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=5309