AB Highway Construction

[Dengler Avenue]

Some fantasy in the north end of Grande Prairie:


Ideally, 43 E to 2 Peace River direction gets a flyover, but due to tight space and my desire to be cheap, I am using a larger loop instead.
Interchange spacing on Highway 2 is ~1.6 KM.
I have also added overpasses in the industrial park to improve local network.

[craner]

I remember the “We Done Bitches” sign - still gives me a laugh.

Originally Posted by Metro-One

So I was looking at Lethbridge and Medicine Hat on Google Earth last night and it struck me, despite the good highway infrastructure in Calgary and Edmonton, the #1 through Medicine Hat and the #3 through Lethbridge are surprisingly underbuilt. They are essentially similar to many of the secondary cities in BC, roads with a mishmash of design standards, from full freeway to semi-freeway (minor at grade interactions) to full on traffic lights at major intersections.

Here is the plan for Hwys 3 & 4 around Lethbridge:
http://http://www.transportation.alberta.ca/projects/assets/Area_8_South/Hwy%203%20Lethbridge/Executive_Summary.pdf

[Dengler Avenue]

And then Medicine Hat bypass: https://www.transportation.alberta.c...bypass%201.pdf
======
Any thought about what I drew for Grande Prairie?

[ericmacm]

Originally Posted by craner

Here is the plan for Hwys 3 & 4 around Lethbridge:
http://http://www.transportation.alberta.ca/projects/assets/Area_8_South/Hwy%203%20Lethbridge/Executive_Summary.pdf

Do we know yet if having HWYs 3 and 4 bypass Lethbridge on the chosen alignment is going to be included in the HWY 3 twinning project?

[craner]

^ I don’t believe the Lethbridge bypass (or Medicine Hat) are part if the Highway 3 twinning - they are not listed as one of the 8 phases (see article below):
http://https://lethbridgenewsnow.com/2023/11/20/twinning-of-highway-3-moving-ahead/

[Dengler Avenue]

Probably not the Fort McLeod Bypass either.
It’s fine to leave them as 3 separate projects as each represents significant undertaking.

[craner]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

And then Medicine Hat bypass: https://www.transportation.alberta.c...bypass%201.pdf
======
Any thought about what I drew for Grande Prairie?

Thanks for posting the MH bypass Dengler.

In regard to what you drew for GP - looks good to me although I’m not familiar with Highway 43 at all.

[craner]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Probably not the Fort McLeod Bypass either.
It’s fine to leave them as 3 separate projects as each represents significant undertaking.

I hope I get to see these 3 bypasses complete in my lifetime along with Nanton & Claresholm. I would rank these 5 bypasses in order essentially traveling from North to South:
1. Nanton.
2. Claresholm.
3. Ft. McLeod.
4. Lethbridge.
5. Medicine Hat.

Of course if it was up to me I would rank Strathmore on Highway #1 ahead of all those.

[Dengler Avenue]

Of course, there’s Lloydminster, though Saskatchewan has been lazy on that front.

[foolworm]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Any thought about what I drew for Grande Prairie?

You need to denote which way North is if it isn't up, looks it's right for the Highway 2/43 interchange. The demand doesn't require a S-E flyover and I'm pretty sure Alberta Transportation will have to buy more land if a full systems interchange is ever built.

A diamond will do fine for the 116 St interchange. On the other hand the planned Highway 40/43 interchange is ambitious.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by foolworm

You need to denote which way North is if it isn't up, looks it's right for the Highway 2/43 interchange. The demand doesn't require a S-E flyover and I'm pretty sure Alberta Transportation will have to buy more land if a full systems interchange is ever built.

A diamond will do fine for the 116 St interchange. On the other hand the planned Highway 40/43 interchange is ambitious.

Yep north is pointing to the right in my map.
Yea I’ve always struggled between practicality and principle. Freeways should meet at completely free-flowing interchanges in principle. (At least it seems to me that Highway 2 is meant to be a freeway in the long term.) Hence, even if the demand isn’t there, such ramps should at least be futureproofed (much like Anthony Henday Drive @ Ray Gibbons Drive).
Ideally the loops should be reconfigured, with the ramps from 2 S to 43 completely separate from the rest, and with a flyover from 43E to 2 Peace River direction. The thing is, that configuration will affect much more industrial land than my proposal.

As for 40/43, yea it’s ambitious but some ramps can just be futureproofed.

[foolworm]

Originally Posted by craner

Of course if it was up to me I would rank Strathmore on Highway #1 ahead of all those.

For me it would be Edson on the Yellowhead.

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Yep north is pointing to the right in my map.
Yea I’ve always struggled between practicality and principle. Freeways should meet at completely free-flowing interchanges in principle. (At least it seems to me that Highway 2 is meant to be a freeway in the long term.) Hence, even if the demand isn’t there, such ramps should at least be futureproofed (much like Anthony Henday Drive @ Ray Gibbons Drive).
Ideally the loops should be reconfigured, with the ramps from 2 S to 43 completely separate from the rest, and with a flyover from 43E to 2 Peace River direction. The thing is, that configuration will affect much more industrial land than my proposal.

As for 40/43, yea it’s ambitious but some ramps can just be futureproofed.

Agreed, although Alberta Transportation may consider it a local corridor south of the intersection since it is the terminus of Highway 2 after all.

Grande Prairie and Clairmont are both growing westward so traffic movements will be heavily biased towards Highway 43 in the future. I agree something like the planned Highway 40/43 interchange or a cloverstack would be ideal, but the rail line immediately east is a real chokepoint.

Grande Prairie should be good for the foreseeable future once Highway 40 twinning is done. On the other hand, I'm slightly annoyed that the Peace River bridge twinning wasn't just a wholesale upgrade of Highway 2 through the town to make it free-flowing.

I am excited for Highway 686/986 though. It will be the next (hopefully not last) cross-Province connection, and a long overdue connection between the northern service centres.

[dmuzika]

Originally Posted by foolworm

You need to denote which way North is if it isn't up, looks it's right for the Highway 2/43 interchange. The demand doesn't require a S-E flyover and I'm pretty sure Alberta Transportation will have to buy more land if a full systems interchange is ever built.

A diamond will do fine for the 116 St interchange. On the other hand the planned Highway 40/43 interchange is ambitious.

I would agree that the demand from Hwy 2 probably wouldn't require a flyover. Alberta Transportation has aspirations of establishing a freeway corridor along Hwy 2 & 49 between Grimshaw (Hwy 35) and Valleyview, bypassing Grande Prairie, so a lot more southbound traffic would take that route from Peace River and NWT.

Saying that, I've also read that Grande Prairie is studying an east bypass to connect with Hwy 40X (the proposed SW Bypass from Hwy 40 to the new Hwy 43 bypass). I feel that if that's ever constructed, there's a better chance it would be extended northward and connect with Hwy 2, as opposed to squeezing a systems interchange at Hwy 2/43.

[Dengler Avenue]

I feel that if that's ever constructed, there's a better chance it would be extended northward and connect with Hwy 2, as opposed to squeezing a systems interchange at Hwy 2/43.

This is definitely cleaner, although I’ve just thought that we could shoehorn something onto the current Highway 2.

[dmuzika]

Originally Posted by craner

I hope I get to see these 3 bypasses complete in my lifetime along with Nanton & Claresholm. I would rank these 5 bypasses in order essentially traveling from North to South:
1. Nanton.
2. Claresholm.
3. Ft. McLeod.
4. Lethbridge.
5. Medicine Hat.

Of course if it was up to me I would rank Strathmore on Highway #1 ahead of all those.

Medicine Hat seems to be one interchange away from being a freeway; I recall seeing a plan online that had an interchange at 1 Avenue snd the closing the two signallized intersections. It wouldn’t solve the signals in Redcliff or Dunmore, but it might be more cost effective than a new bypass, at least for interim.

I'm curious which bypasses are based on convenience vs. safety? The ones that come up the most are Claresholm, Edson, Fort Macleod, Hinton, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Nanton, and Strathmore (with Edson, Fort Macleod, and Nanton being one-way pairs). For example, I grew up going to Jasper and going through Edson, but I don't go that way too often as an adult so I don't know how bad it can be. Is it an inconvenience to slow down, or can it it get legit bad during peak season?

[Dengler Avenue]

I’d have agreed with upgrading TCH through Redcliff - Medicine Hat - Dunnmore if Crowsnest Highway weren’t there. The bypass is meant to tie Crowsnest Highway to TCH.

As for the rest… I’ll let others answer.

Ps: Did all of you forget about Lloydminster just because the other half is in Saskatchewan?

[dmuzika]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

I’d have agreed with upgrading TCH through Redcliff - Medicine Hat - Dunnmore if Crowsnest Highway weren’t there. The bypass is meant to tie Crowsnest Highway to TCH.

As for the rest… I’ll let others answer.

Ps: Did all of you forget about Lloydminster just because the other half is in Saskatchewan?

Haha, I omitted Lloydminster more because it doesn't seem to get as many comments (er, complaints/love) online. More people seem to either travel north-south or west towards the mountains, so some of those other places seem to get more attention. Maybe Alberta and Saskatchewan can make a deal where Alberta builds a all-weather road from the Fort McMurray area to SK 956 near La Loche and Saskatchewan builds their portion of the Lloydminster bypass. Another bypass that I saw once being studied was for Whitecourt, but it's already an expressway(ish) similar to Hinton.

As for Medicine Hat, I should have mentioned that the upgrade could function as an interim solution. I also wonder if the current Hwy 3 alignment could function in the interim even if it's twinned; I feel that a lot of the traffic would have Medicine Hat as the destination. Is there heavy traffic between Lethbridge and Saskatchewan? To be clear, I'm not against the Medicine Hat bypass, I'm just wondering if others might deserve a higher priority?

[s211]

I seem to recall that this thread had to do with construction, not fantasies. Just as the Vancouver sub-forum has a transit fantasies thread, perhaps an AB road fantasy thread might assist?

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by s211

I seem to recall that this thread had to do with construction, not fantasies. Just as the Vancouver sub-forum has a transit fantasies thread, perhaps an AB road fantasy thread might assist?

Good question. Sometimes I do get excited about highways and forget to read the words that come after. If OP's strict about this being about constructions only, sure I can keep it at that.
I am just iffy about a road fantasy thread just for Alberta, though. In Vancouver, it seems that million ideas can be born about transit fantasies. For roads in Alberta? I can probably count with at most my 2 hands and 2 feet. For real, I am just showing ideas on how to get the movements free-flowing between divided 4 lanes, and there aren't that many to show in Alberta. (Also, for the bypasses with official documents, I don't count them as fantasies.)

Anyway, to recap the recent constructions...
Crowsnest Highway twinning has just begun.
David Thompson Highway twinning is ongoing.
These are the two that I can remember right off the bat.

[foolworm]

I still think the proposed interchange for Terwillegar Drive / AHD is terrible. Alberta Transportation is paying for that particular upgrade, they should flex their muscles and step in. If not the original cloverstack, at least what was done for SPR/100 Ave would be a good compromise:



A freeway-expressway interchange with dedicated transit lanes needs a higher quality treatment than what they have right now.