Deerfoot Trail Study Recomends Short-Term Improvements

The City of Calgary and Alberta Transportation are working together to develop a program of upgrades to manage traffic and improve safety on Deerfoot Trail. Over the last year, the study has considered more than 100 iterations that have resulted in five short-term improvement recommendations for future 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 Boulevard / 12 Street N.E. (existing Council-approved plan)
• Northbound ramp connection between McKnight Boulevard and 64 Avenue N.E.
• New northbound on-ramp from 11 Street N.E.

“Currently, there is no funding for short- or long-term improvements on Deerfoot Trail,” says Jeffrey Xu, Senior Transportation Engineer with The City of Calgary. “Once funding is allocated, the short-term improvement recommendations are lower-cost options that could be implemented within two years.”

Numerous short-term recommendations were generated by considering the results of more than 15 studies on Deerfoot Trail completed over the last 20 years, analyzing over 10,000 comments from citizens during the first phase of engagement in 2016, and a technical assessment of problems on the corridor today. Stakeholder workshops were held in late 2016 to gather feedback on the options.

The options needed to meet several criteria to be considered further:

• Provide benefits for five to 10 years
• Able to be designed and implemented within two years of being funded
• Offer improvements for problem locations that benefit the entire corridor
• Result in benefits that are greater than the cost within 10 years

Xu indicated the short-term recommendations will fix some of the largest issues identified in the technical report and mirrored in the public input, but acknowledged the big problems can’t be addressed with short-term fixes. “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 short-term recommendations are preliminary and have been advanced enough to identify what additional land would be needed and the estimated cost to implement them. These details will help to inform future funding decisions.

For more information please visit calgary.ca/deerfoot

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