yeggator
Active Member
So I was inspired to make this thread because I use Gateway Boulevard/Calgary Trail to commute to and from work every day, and with how much traffic's grown, it's such a pain in the ass it use these roadways. I also think it doesn't give a great first impression of the city as the main entrance from the international airport and places like Calgary. When you reach the first stoplight on Gateway, you get to bear witness to a frequently backed up at-grade railroad crossing with a giant Wendy's sign behind it, and a whole lot of cluttered commercial buildings that butt right up against the roadway on both sides. It's such a small-town entrance for the capital of the highest-HDI region on the continent. And since I mentioned Calgary, I always thought it's nice that you can theoretically travel from the QE2 entrance to the city up to Downtown in a wide-open, fairly naturalized free-flow right-of-way (even if, in practice, you'll get stuck in traffic 99% of the time).
Now, I'd never advocate for all the destruction required to plow a freeway straight to downtown, but you could get most of the way there by upgrading 91st Street to a freeway (which already has nice naturalized greenery along the ROW). Then, with all the capacity you free up on Gateway and Calgary Trail, turn them bidirectional arterials (cause unidirectional couplets are stupid) and add BRT and active transportation along Calgary Trail. Then, you funnel traffic from the 91st Street freeway onto Argyll, from which they can access DT by Gateway/Walterdale or 109th/High Level (both bridges becoming bidirectional). Make some aesthetic improvements and you now have a proper north-south transportation spine south of the river that accommodates several modes, moves them quickly and is a more fitting entrance to the big city. And don't forget about grade-separating the railway for high-speed rail!
Now, I'd never advocate for all the destruction required to plow a freeway straight to downtown, but you could get most of the way there by upgrading 91st Street to a freeway (which already has nice naturalized greenery along the ROW). Then, with all the capacity you free up on Gateway and Calgary Trail, turn them bidirectional arterials (cause unidirectional couplets are stupid) and add BRT and active transportation along Calgary Trail. Then, you funnel traffic from the 91st Street freeway onto Argyll, from which they can access DT by Gateway/Walterdale or 109th/High Level (both bridges becoming bidirectional). Make some aesthetic improvements and you now have a proper north-south transportation spine south of the river that accommodates several modes, moves them quickly and is a more fitting entrance to the big city. And don't forget about grade-separating the railway for high-speed rail!
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