Drivers on the Deerfoot have been waiting years for improvements and on Friday the city outlined recommendations to manage traffic and improve safety on the busy roadway.
The Deerfoot Trail Study details five, short-term recommendations for consideration:
- Southland Drive to Anderson Road / Bow Bottom Trail S.E. southbound basket weave
- "Jughandle" intersection at 32 Avenue / 12 Street N.E.
- Left-turn restrictions at McKnight Blvd / 12 Street N.E. (Council-approved study)
- Northbound ramp connection between McKnight Blvd and 64 Avenue N.E.
- New northbound on-ramp from 11 Street N.E.
Jeffrey Xu, Project Manager for The City of Calgary, says currently, there is no funding in place for the project.
“Today, there’s no funding available. But we will take the recommendations for future funding consideration and these recommendations can help both the Alberta Transportation and the city to consider in the future budget cycles,” he said.
Xu says the recommendations are lower-cost options that could be implemented within two years if funding becomes available.
He says the short-term solutions will take care of some of the larger issues but admits that the bigger problems can’t be tackled with the recommendations.
“Many improvement options were identified and considered along the entire corridor, in both directions, including for the problem areas around 17 Avenue S.E., Glenmore Trail and the Ivor Strong Bridge. The designs that will address those areas require significant infrastructure investment and do not meet the criteria mentioned above for consideration in the short-term. However, those areas will be addressed in the long-term recommendations.”
The recommendations were identified after considering more than 15 studies on Deerfoot Trail and thousands of comments from citizens that have been collected over the last 20 years.
Officials say the proposals are preliminary and will help to pinpoint additional land that might be needed and the cost of implementation.
For more information on the project, click HERE.
