Anthony Henday Drive

[ExcaliburKid]

I've seen some American freeways that employ traffic signals at on-ramps, changes from red to green every 10 seconds or so and lets 3-4 cars through at a time, I assume as a means of preventing backed up traffic on the freeway. Does anyone think something like this would work here on the SW leg?

[s211]

Originally Posted by ExcaliburKid

I've seen some American freeways that employ traffic signals at on-ramps, changes from red to green every 10 seconds or so and lets 3-4 cars through at a time, I assume as a means of preventing backed up traffic on the freeway. Does anyone think something like this would work here on the SW leg?

Have them here in Vancouver too. I'd guess they help, or else they wouldn't be using them.

What are we defining as "open" for the NE leg? Because there is zero chance of the work on Henday south of Yellowhead being done in 6 weeks, like it's not even close. But I'm now thinking they're not considering that part of the NE leg in terms of opening day.

[Hallsy's Toupee]

Funny, I drove along there the other day and it looked almost finished to me.

Originally Posted by Hallsy's Toupee

Funny, I drove along there the other day and it looked almost finished to me.

Henday from Whitemud to Yellowhead, right? And the Sherwood Park freeway interchange? Looks more than 6 weeks from being fully open, as in all lanes of travel... that's why I ask what their definition of "open" is going to be. We must be talking about 2 different things. I'm guessing there will be equipment around and lots of lane closures (especially initially) till the end of next summer as there was for Stoney SE, for example. That seems the most likely.

[Hallsy's Toupee]

The October 1 opening is more than a 1 month away; plenty of time to finish up.

Originally Posted by Hallsy's Toupee

The October 1 opening is more than a 1 month away; plenty of time to finish up.

Are you saying all lanes (including interchanges) of the final design will be open on October 1, from Yellowhead to highway 14? Cause I find that almost impossible to believe. North of 16, sure... but the median is still completely dug up and the additional pavement is not even there around Whitemud - it's a mess. "Finishing up" is not what they're doing in that area. I'll continue to use Stoney Trail as precedence, which at 6 weeks out of its Oct 1 opening looked far ahead of what Henday does now, and was still delayed 6 weeks with subseqent closures... for a less complex project.

Agree to disagree I suppose.

[Black Star]

^And if its not open is the sky going to fall in

Originally Posted by Black Star

^And if its not open is the sky going to fall in

Not really, given that everything can basically be accessed already in the affected area. I was living in Calgary waiting for Stoney SE to open and that road was a "sky falling in" type of situation for me... i.e. 1.5 hour savings on some days.

[technomad]

drove through east henday today, even with the new normal of a daily thunderstorm.. I don't think there will be a problem having everything open on time

like past sections, paint and landscaping will probably complete sometime the next year, but looking forward to driving the full ring in a few weeks

What's the deal with signage for highway 14 on eastbound Whitemud? The old signs say "14 East to 16" which is cool, but once you get to Henday the province's new signs make no mention of which way you need to go to get 16 (north), or which way you need to go (south) to actually get to highway 14. I'm thinking the bit of Henday between Whitemud and 14 is supposed to actually be concurrency. "To" and then listing another route seems a very useful thing but is not used at all anywhere in the province's new signage.

[vernr]

Finished no, but looking at the various stages things are in, all bridges and ramps could be open by October 1st, if we don't get rain every !@#$%^&* day. Most of the remaining work is paving, finishing guardrails on the bridge abutments. Pretty much all the bridge decks are complete and ready to drive. The most unfinished seems to be the AHD NB->Yellowhead WB flyover.

Originally Posted by vernr

The most unfinished seems to be the AHD NB->Yellowhead WB flyover.

Sherwood Park Fwy EB-NB Henday flyover seems a bit away too.

[BretttheRiderFan]

Decided to let off some steam with a drive tonight, and traveled the south/west leg of the Henday for the first time (between AB-2 and the Yellowhead), and you guys weren't kidding about the traffic, especially before the Whitemud where it's only two lanes. At 9PM it's quite the sight to see, can't imagine it during rush hour.

I figure it's at least $500m in fixes to make a dent on the SW, which is money the province doesn't have. Wish they'd have started fixing SW Henday and postponed the QE2/Gaetz Ave fix in Red Deer which is merely an irritation compared to the immediate shit show that is SW Henday. I dunno.

Once the NE opens, I wonder if it'll be faster to go counter-clockwise around Henday to get to St Albert at rush hour, if coming from the south? Definitely curious to see what kind of times Google Maps and other apps generate...

[Daveography]

The current QE2/Gaetz interchange is actually really unsafe. Definitely a higher priority than something that's just inconvenient.

[feepa]

^ the SW section between QE2 and 127th street is pretty unsafe too during the rush hour congestion.

Much like the QE2/Gaetz interchange, it's far past its designed volume, and congestion causes problems...

I dont see how adding a lane or two is going to cost 500M. You don't need to change any bridges, they were all built wide enough for the additional lanes. The province designed this section to be expanded in phases, up to the ultimate stage plan, which includes 4-6 lanes of travel in each direction, depending on location. Yes, up to 12 lanes total (though the 12 lane part is for the west end section of the SW.)

I think I might need to take a trip to the downtown library reference section to see if there's any documents I can pull as the GOA website lacks any thing that's not currently being built.

Eastbound Henday between Terwillegar and Rabbit Hill for example. The province's own standard for weaving distance is 800m... on Henday here it's literally 0 m. It's clearly because of the ultimate plan for a second Terwillegar bridge is why that ramp goes on for so long, but highly unsafe. I don't ever feel unsafe going through QE2 at Gaetz, it sucks just like the rest of most of QE2, but it's not Henday SW rush hour volume...

$500m was definitely a gross overestimation on my part, but I also think a bit more work is needed than just filling out mainline to 3-4 lanes. At least 2 basketweave is needed with the proximity of exits.

[Hallsy's Toupee]

QE2/Gaetz is indeed the higher priority because that stretch needs to be raised to a proper freeway standard. I've had some near-misses SB because of that left lane entrance from Gaetz Ave. Rush hour traffic on the QE2 around Red Deer (a city with over 100,000 population) can be a gong show. Plus to add to the traffic is Gasoline Alley, which has not only devolved into one of the most inconvenient, crowded, inhospitable and poorly-developed rest stops on God's green Earth but has turned into Red Deer's version of South Edmonton Common. In fact I've heard there's plans for even more development in the Gasoline Alley area.

[EdmTrekker]

Originally Posted by Hallsy's Toupee

QE2/Gaetz is indeed the higher priority because that stretch needs to be raised to a proper freeway standard. I've had some near-misses SB because of that left lane entrance from Gaetz Ave. Rush hour traffic on the QE2 around Red Deer (a city with over 100,000 population) can be a gong show. Plus to add to the traffic is Gasoline Alley, which has not only devolved into one of the most inconvenient, crowded, inhospitable and poorly-developed rest stops on God's green Earth but has turned into Red Deer's version of South Edmonton Common. In fact I've heard there's plans for even more development in the Gasoline Alley area.

Time for a bypass - maybe through Lacombe and East side of Red Deer.