The City is launching a study and seeking public input on ways to improve Deerfoot Trail.

The study will look at maximizing the existing infrastructure to be as cost effective as possible. It covers all 37.5 kilometres of the highway that runs through Calgary and includes 20 interchanges.

“Deerfoot Trail is one of Calgary’s only roads that continuously connects from north to south. It is a critical route for getting goods in and out of our city, and every day up to 170,000 trips are made on the road,” says Mac Logan, General Manager of Transportation for the city. “The majority of the road was built between 1971 and 1982. The city’s population has doubled since then and the road is no longer meeting current demands.”

The Deerfoot is a notorious source of frustration for drivers, often congested and frequently the scene of accidents and the reasons for that are many.

“It’s a little bit of everything,” said Stephen Power, Parsons Consulting. “There are places where we have some design issues, there’s places we know that, you know, we don’t have enough lanes, that we have interchanges that don’t work quite right, but at the same time, it’s also what’s happening with travel. If you go down Deerfoot midday, it operates quite well, you go at 8 o’clock in the morning and it’s clogged up.”

Power says the study will look at anything that can help the situation, including:

  • Add more lanes
  • Improve interchanges
  • Reduce demand
  • Use better technology
  • Clear accidents faster
  • Install pay express lanes

Short-term recommendations will be made in early 2017 so they can be considered for funding in the next three to five years. The study will also recommend a long-term improvement plan in 2018 to manage growth over the next 30 years.

Public engagement will run until June 30th. You can tell the city how you use the Deerfoot and what you think the problems are online at Calgary.ca/deerfoot, or by attending one of these sessions:

  • June 14 at WillowRidge Community Association (680 Acadia Dr. S.E.) from 5 - 8 p.m.
  • June 15 at St. Jerome Elementary (11616 Panorama Hills Blvd. N.W.) from 5 - 8 p.m.
  • June 16 at Dover Community Association (3133 30 Ave. S.E.) from 5 - 8 p.m.
  • June 20 at Sheraton Cavalier Hotel (2620 32 Ave. N.E.) from 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
  • June 20 at Douglasdale Elementary School (400 Douglas Park Blvd. S.E.) from 5 - 8 p.m.
  • June 28 at Thorncliffe Greenview Community Association (5600 Centre St. N.) from 5 - 8 p.m.