Calgary Roads - Page 16

DizzyEdge · #**301** Posted **Jul 16, 2009, 3:28 AM**

Hey there's a few streets in Bowness by the tracks that had NEVER been paved until 10 yrs ago. Although Freeweed may be correct, as far as Bowness specifically these sorts of things have never seemed to take much priority, I mean there were actual farms in bowness just in the past 20 yrs.

Full Mountain · #**302** Posted **Jul 16, 2009, 6:14 PM**

There is actually some sort of restriction by the community association about this stuff....My buddy's parent built a house in bowness and as a result of construction the sidewalk was cracked and they haven't been allowed to fix it...not sure what the reasoning is behind it but there seems to be a fair bit of opposition to improving the public infrastructure but not to building infill housing

Medw · #**303** Posted **Jul 17, 2009, 3:15 AM**

The way those roads were once explained to me is that they were that way when the town was annexed into the City. Until the local residents want to agree to pay for improvements, similar to the way paved alleys work, it won't get brought up to City standards.

There used to be a road like Bow crescent in Midnapore that only got properly paved in the mid 90's when some condos went in alongside it.

Ferreth · #**304** Posted **Jul 17, 2009, 3:30 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Medw

The way those roads were once explained to me is that they were that way when the town was annexed into the City. Until the local residents want to agree to pay for improvements, similar to the way paved alleys work, it won't get brought up to City standards.

There used to be a road like Bow crescent in Midnapore that only got properly paved in the mid 90's when some condos went in alongside it.

That rings a bell. In Albert Park, I remember their being gravel roads along a few side streets up into the 80's for the same reason. Checking Google maps, I see they have fixed them up. 12th and 13th Ave, 12th actually used to go through from 25th to 26th st in lovely gravel - quite the shock riding my bicycle down there to find myself on a gravel road with sidewalks

shreddog · #**305** Posted **Jul 17, 2009, 11:11 AM**

Right in the heart of Mount Pleasant, 9th St NW between 23rd and 24th Ave is a very rutted gravel road.

The funny thing is that the backlane running parallel to 24th Ave off 9th St is actually in better shape than the road!

korzym · #**306** Posted **Jul 17, 2009, 5:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by shreddog

Right in the heart of Mount Pleasant, 9th St NW between 23rd and 24th Ave is a very rutted gravel road.

The funny thing is that the backlane running parallel to 24th Ave off 9th St is actually in better shape than the road!

backlanes are privately funded, which says something for roads in new developments IMO..

korzym · #**307** Posted **Jul 18, 2009, 6:30 AM**

new highway in Poland. I think some things could be learned...I like the visual barrier fence on the middle divider which is especially prevalent in turns. With deerfoot being as windy as it is I think it could benefit from this.

Also this is a lesson to those that don't understand the concept of keeping right. See how easier traffic flows.

• Video Link

You Need A Thneed · #**308** Posted **Jul 27, 2009, 4:03 PM**

A crew repaved Falconridge Blvd between McKnight and 64th Ave on Saturday. I think it's the worst repavng job I've ever seen. Just terrible work. Newly paved roads shouldn't have dips, patches and ruts, and the pavement should come neatly to the manholes.

I hope the city rejects the work, and makes the contractor do it all again, at the contractor's expense.

mooky · #**309** Posted **Jul 27, 2009, 4:41 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by You Need A Thneed

A crew repaved Falconridge Blvd between McKnight and 64th Ave on Saturday. I think it's the worst repavng job I've ever seen. Just terrible work. Newly paved roads shouldn't have dips, patches and ruts, and the pavement should come neatly to the manholes.

I hope the city rejects the work, and makes the contractor do it all again, at the contractor's expense.

I'd fire a quick email off to the city suggesting just that. If we don't complain as citizens, who knows what bureaucrat might just rubber stamp the job without really checking it out too critically.

You Need A Thneed · #**310** Posted **Jul 30, 2009, 10:27 PM**

The tender is out for the construction of Country Hills Blvd between Rocky Ridge Road and Rocky Ridge Blvd. Closes mid august.

mersar · #**311** Posted **Jul 30, 2009, 10:29 PM**

Good to hear. I was starting to wonder if we were actually going to see that one out this year or not.

freeweed · #**312** Posted **Jul 30, 2009, 11:25 PM**

Obviously the city finally got the necessary land after years of waiting. This is an essential piece before Rocky Ridge Road closes.

Of course in the meantime the left turn from CHB into Royal Oak is officially ruined as they've turned the light into turning arrow or solid red - no solid green anymore, which is when most traffic used to make it through (very little comes westbound by comparison).

This will be necessary once it's a 2 lane turn, but that looks weeks away if not longer. Good to see they've changed the light timing prematurely - we now often wait for 3 or 4 cycles of the lights just to get home, even outside of rush hour.

Lovely planning, boys!

eggbert · #**313** Posted **Jul 30, 2009, 11:47 PM**

Thanks for posting that Freeweed. I was wondering if anyone else was sitting at that light fuming like myself. Not only does the no yield on green suck for the turn, but the timing of the lights doesn't make any sense to me. The thru traffic for Royal Birch Blvd/85th Street gets a large amount of time, but there's really no traffic.

AB Born · #**314** Posted **Jul 31, 2009, 5:30 AM**

I got a question... are the cameras on top of a lot of traffic lights actually being monitored? What are they used for exactly? I noticed they first started appearing at intersections in Tuscany (maybe 1.5-2 years ago)... and now they are at various intersections throughout the city. If there is an accident do the police review the video? If there is a high speed chase can someone at the city tap into the cameras to control the intersection? At the moment I can’t find a picture of one to show what I’m talking about...

freeweed · #**315** Posted **Jul 31, 2009, 12:33 PM**

I know the cameras you're talking about, they're NOT speed/red light cameras. I see them everywhere.

From what I understand they're used for traffic monitoring - vehicle counts, flow, that sort of thing. I guess theoretically they can be used to time lights dynamically, if traffic patterns change a lot. Not sure if they ARE used that way though.

Oliver Klozov · #**316** Posted **Jul 31, 2009, 2:40 PM**

Their main purpose is laser traffic sensors. Rather than using the looped wire sensors in the roadway to notify the controller that a vehicle is waiting at a red light, the laser sensors do that job. Looped wire sensors are dependent on the vehicle actually being over top of the sensor. Overly defensive drivers will often stop well short of the 'Stop Line' and therefore not activate the contoller. I've seen some people sitting at a red light and then when I come back by 10 minutes later and they're still sitting there with a stunned look on their face.

mersar · #**317** Posted **Jul 31, 2009, 2:50 PM**

Yep. Most places are moving to those now, they are also far more effective in winter from what I've heard, as supposedly if you get an inch or two of packed snow on the road it does impact the sensitivity of the older loop based systems. The biggest issue with them though is they need to be aimed, and the width of the sensor area tends to be pretty narrow. We had one in Cochrane (on a province maintained intersection) that you need to be almost in the right turn lane to trigger the left turn light due to the poor aiming, and AB Transportation took almost a year to get around to fixing, leading to lot of people sitting there for quite a while

freeweed · #**318** Posted **Jul 31, 2009, 3:22 PM**

Huh, interesting. I bet they'd also work better than the induction loops for motorcycles, too - I've heard many a horror story about that situation not working well.

You Need A Thneed · #**319** Posted **Jul 31, 2009, 3:42 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by freeweed

Huh, interesting. I bet they'd also work better than the induction loops for motorcycles, too - I've heard many a horror story about that situation not working well.

The ground loops that I have to activate sometimes on my bike ride to work actually work when I'm just on my bike. Although I do have to position my front wheel exactly on the line, and then "jump" on it a little bit.

The city is definately behind on installing sensors in some place though. 36th Street/39th Ave and 36th street/44th Ave still have not been reinstalled since the LRT work started. They still go through the whole cycle even if there's no one waiting to go a certain way, and they never stay green long enough for the North to West turn at 39th Ave.

Oliver Klozov · #**320** Posted **Jul 31, 2009, 4:19 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by You Need A Thneed

The ground loops that I have to activate sometimes on my bike ride to work actually work when I'm just on my bike. Although I do have to position my front wheel exactly on the line, and then "jump" on it a little bit.

The jumping isn't exactly what does it. They are not impact activated. They are a loop of wire embedded in the asphalt. When a magnetic field passes over the loop it induces a current. That's why the diamond shape cut in the pavement is in the middle of the lane instead of where the wheels of a car would impact. Older versions are hard wired right back to the controller. Newer versions have a tiny transmitter that sends a signal to the controller.