Quote:
Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere
Just getting the Trans Canada and Highway 2 from Edmonton down to Coutts to not have any stoplights and be a single, direct, 4-lane, median separated highway should be the goal.
Fretting about small farm crossings isn't a huge deal, other than perhaps between Calgary and Edmonton. There just really shouldn't be any stoplights.
Alberta needs to focus on the Strathmore Bypass, the Fort Macleod bypass, connect Highway 4 to 3 in Lethbridge with a freeway, build some interchanges in Medicine Hat, etc.
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The farm crossings slong Hwy 2 in Mountain View County needed to be closed 25 years ago. There's maybe one that could be grade separated between Olds and Bowden, but the rest could be consolidated to the existing interchanges at Carstairs, Didsbury, and Olds. The province is studying an interchange at 338 Avenue, due east of Okotoks, which combined with a few at grade closures would make it free flowing as far south as High River. While the at grade crossings in Mountain View County are annoying, the ones northeast of Okotoks actually are a legitimate safety concern with all the acreages in the area.
The two bypasses that might not get enough attention are Nanton and Claresholm. Like Fort Macleod and TCH 16 through Edson, Hwy 2 is a one-way pair through Nanton with a 50 km/h speed limit and unlimited access, and can get pretty busy over the weekend. Claresholm isn't much better, and boasts the first traffic light on Hwy 2 south of Edmonton. That might have been a cute marketing tag line 20 years ago, but with the growth of the Calgary and Lethbridge, and province overall, it's time for a bypass. The Fort Macleod bypass is also needed, especially with the focus of twinning Hwy 3. A lot of traffic uses Hwy 519 & 23 between Granum and Monarch to bypass Fort Macleod, but it's only two lanes and isn't designed for that. Fort Macleod has an at-grade railway crossing with a fairly busy CP line, which is unacceptable for two major highways.
I also think Alberta should move the Highway 2 designation to Highway 4. Highway 2, especially south of Edmonton, is synonymous with being a major north-south highway with Lethbridge is the control city south of Calgary and Coutts is the major US border crossing, yet it doesn't go through either. Having recently traveled Hwy 2 and US 89, it feels like a different world from the section north of Fort Macleod. It would make more sense IMO for it to continue to I-15.