Traffic  -Newsletter Deadline Feb 15, 2001

So what is happening with the traffic plan? When do the measures get installed? Can we have them tomorrow?  -- These are the questions that I get asked most often at which point I usually turn the question back by asking What do you think of what you have seen so far? Any concerns? Any showstoppers? Have you filled out our traffic survey on the Internet at www.mountroyalstation.ca?  We (the traffic committee) really want your input we need your input. We are trying extremely hard to do what the majority of the residents of Mount Royal want but we need to know. So please fill out the survey or call your traffic area representative!

Before I delve into what the Plan is looking like at the moment I would like to throw in a few simple Did you know? type items.

Did you know that the City approved a plan this past summer that will turn 5^th Street into a two way street between Elbow Drive and 17^th Ave.?  This will relieve some of the traffic that goes in on 8^th Street in the morning but how will these northbound commuters that take 5^th Street then get to 8^th Street? They will have three potential choices Hillcrest, Royal and 17^th. .  Turning left on 17^th will be much harder than going over on Hillcrest or Royal and by taking Royal you get to miss going up and down the hill. Do we want Royal and/or Hillcrest to become the connector between 5^th Street and 8^th Street in the AM and PM? The City acknowledges that the 5^th Street plan will cause more congestion and will make it harder to exit the downtown on 5^th. They also acknowledge that 8^th Street will become more attractive to the displaced traffic if measures are not installed.

Did you know that the City is planning to make 10^th Ave better at moving traffic by making it cross 14^th Street and that 11^th Avenue and 12 Avenue are becoming two-way roads? This is good news for 7^th Street and 8^th Street since it will allow the PM traffic a chance to get over to 4th Street, 5^th Street or 14^th Street earlier before hitting the 17^th Avenue mess. Plus residents that presently go up 7^th Street will be able to get over to 8^th Street more easily before entering our neighborhood.

Did you know that the City is planning to make it possible for the northbound 14^th Street traffic to go east on Memorial? This will mean that residents from South Calgary and beyond will not need to cut through Mount Royal on the way to the Airport or Ikea.

Did you know that the City is planning to install measures on Sifton Ave. later this summer- that will greatly reduce the capacity of the roadway? This will increase the traffic on 30^th Ave., Premier Way and Council Way as well as the short cutting that happens on Hillcrest (going west), Prospect, Royal, Colburne, Durham and all other East-West corridors in Mount Royal. Do we want our roadways to take the traffic that is displaced or do we want to ensure that our roadways are equally as safe by installing traffic measures?

Did you know that our community has been waiting for many years for this opportunity to address our traffic problems and that we get one kick at the can? If we do not address our concerns now the City moves onto the other communities. If we cannot achieve a general consensus we may lose our chance to do anything. If we do nothing and the surrounding communities are bottlenecking all of their roadways including the major ones where do you think the traffic is going to go?

By this point you are probably wondering What the heck is going on? Why on earth would the City be reducing the ability of the roadways in the Inner City to move traffic?

Well it is all due to the VISION that the City has adopted for the Inner City.

The City estimates that there is going to be 8000 more workers in the downtown area than there are working there today. The VISION is to make the downtown a people place rather than a giant parking lot.  In an effort to facilitate this VISION the City is:

o       Encouraging Inner City Condos so that people live near where they work,

o       Raising Parking rates and not building parking lots so that people are encouraged to take transit,

o       Buying more buses and LRT vehicles,

o       Installing more bike paths,

o       Turning the arterial roads such as 11^th and 12^th Ave. and 5^th Street into people friendly two-way streets even though it snarls up traffic (since in the Citys VISION we should all walk or take transit).

o       Allowing roadways such as Mission road, Sifton Ave. and our busy roadways to bottleneck themselves.

o       Not building any more river crossings.

o       Plus many more that you can see in the GO-Plan on the City Web Site.

(Please note that this VISION is that of the City of Calgary if you like it or dislike it and wish to extend praise or disgust call your Alderman not your traffic committee)

THE PLAN as it stands now

Once we receive the mandate to TRY these traffic measures -we are going to do just that - we are going to TRY them and modify them according to the input of the community.

The sequence in which these measures get implemented is extremely important. The more innocuous measures will go in first and we will be closely monitoring the effect that each group of measures has prior to installing the next group of measures.

-Prior to measures being installed that will restrict access or egress, the City will be installing signage to alert drivers to the impending change. This is to allow everyone to get use to the measures and figure out the alternate. We do not want to inconvenience any of our residents more that necessary (though we will probably trap the cell phone users!)

The plan has four measures that I put into the draconian category. Each one of these measures has very good reasons for being proposed however each requires a good understanding of present and future community and City traffic flows as well as an understanding of who is doing what in the surrounding communities.

1)      Closing off the Southbound lane on 8^th Street just prior to Frontenac. There has been a bit of confusion with respect to this measure. The intersection of 8^th Street at Premier Way would function exactly as it does now.  The top of the hill, at the SW corner of the Earl Grey schoolyard would not allow southbound traffic onto 8^th Street. Basically 8^th Street via Premier Way becomes an entrance but not an exit for the community. We are hoping to cut the 7000 cars a day that use 8^th Street down by more than half and help out 30^th Ave in Elbow Park at the same time. Please do not think of this measure in the context of what is happening now and the City just dropping in a blob of concrete. All the other measures that constrict 8^th Street, including the new 40 km/hr speed limit, speed bumps, crosswalk narrowings, the narrowing at Royal, the narrowing at 19^th Ave, etc. would all go in first. The measures on Carleton and 10^th would also go in prior to the 8^th Street traffic measure. Also remember that traffic exiting the downtown area is going to be presented with other easier options once the 10, 11^th and 12 Avenue changes get made. This measure will most likely be the absolute last to get implemented and in conjunction with other City changes.

2)      Closing off Royal Avenue behind the High school. This measure eliminates the need for several other measures that raised the ire of a few residents. The banana island at Royal and 8^th street would have forced some traffic onto 18^th and 19^th Avenue plus it would have made it difficult for residents to get around inside of the community so we eliminated the idea of the banana and we are simply looking at narrowing the Royal/8^th intersection to make it safer. The residents of Hope and 7^th Street did not like the idea of restricted access signs at the Royal end of their roadways so we eliminated that proposal. The idea of blocking Royal Avenue was put forward by Cliff Bungalow and we saw many benefits that we believe greatly outweigh the drawbacks. The most obvious is that the traffic link between 5^th Street and 8^th Street would be severed. This benefits Royal, 7^th, Hillcrest, Prospect, Carleton, 10^th, Laval and Council because short-cutters headed towards Marda Loop, that exit the downtown on 5^th Street, will by-pass Mount Royal and go over to 14^th Street via 10^th, 11^th or 12 Ave.  In discussions with the City with respect to the converting of 5^th Street into a two way street, the City planners in charge of the changes reinforced the need for this measure and even suggested that it be part of the 5^th Street conversion plan.

3)      Making Hillcrest an exit only to 5^th Street. This would be accomplished by narrowing the roadway for a section as it goes down the hill (where no one lives and people sit to watch fireworks).  This works in conjunction with 8^th Street. If you live near the community center you would access the Glencoe or Safeway by going out Hillcrest and then coming back in on 8^th. We were pleased to find that many residents already do it this way and are already in the habit of doing the LOOP. This measure protects Hillcrest from the changes being made on 5^th Street plus it eliminates the post hockey game traffic from using Hillcrest and Prospect as a by-pass for 17^th Avenue The City planners in charge of the 5^th Street changes also reinforced the need for this measure and even suggested that it too be part of the 5^th Street conversion plan.

4)       Closing off the through traffic on Carleton at Premier Way. This one is the main protection for the SW access of the community. All of our residents can still get to and from Marda Loop and William Ried School it would simply take 30 seconds longer. The measure that we are proposing forces traffic coming from Marda Loop to go down to 10^th Street on Council and then come back on Premier Way to access the neighborhood via Carleton. In the PM the southbound traffic will be able to go either East or West but not straight through. We feel that the simple act of turning back on yourself is a large deterrent and when combined with the other internal traffic safety measures will deter most if not all of our shortcutting traffic that is going to and coming from the SW direction.

Well that is the hard to swallow part of the measures that are being proposed. We welcome any other options. We have provided a portion of the reasoning that we believe justifies these measures there is more info on the website.

Now I will list the other measures that we have determined belong in THE PLAN.

You may notice that we are proposing the use of islands and buttons wherever possible they do not affect the street drainage and therefore are easy and inexpensive to install plus we can dress them up to be attractive additions to the neighborhood.

If you like -or dislike what you see - fill out the on-line survey at www.mountroyalstation.ca. have your say!

Council Way We have agreed with Elbow Park that we want to slow down the traffic on Council Way, down to the speed limit, which is now 40 km/hr but not yet posted. We want to keep the traffic volumes from increasing. Try to discourage drivers from selecting Council Way rather than going down 14th and also we want to make the crosswalk safer for the elementary students going to William Reid.

To do this we propose to:

1.       Narrow the school crosswalk -similar to what the City has done in front of Earl Grey School on Hillcrest. As the school has sent a letter to the City asking for this measure and the same on Premier, this measure may be implemented more quickly that we had originally hoped for.

2.       Add an island on Council Way -immediately East of 14th. This is intended to hide the entrance a bit to make it look less inviting and to stop the dangerous line jumping that goes on in the morning rush.

3.       Add a Welcome to the Communities of Mount Royal and Elbow Park -sign. This reminds drivers that they are leaving the arterial network and entering a community. 

Premier Way (West of 10th) - we want to slow down the traffic on Premier

Way - down to the limit, we want to make a crosswalk for the kids that live over in the Wolf and Montcalm area to safely cross Premier Way plus we would like to make the entrance to Premier Way off 14th so that it is less inviting and hide the strip mall from our residents. 

To do this we propose to:

1.       Add a narrow crosswalk -similar to what the City has done in front of Earl Grey School on Hillcrest -this would likely be installed just West of Vercheres. This would also slow down the traffic to the speed limit.

2.       Add a partial traffic circle into the Premier Way -Carlton Intersection. This would make through traffic on Carlton impossible (except for the bus). (See above)

3.       Install a triangular island at Vercheres and Premier Way to eliminate the left turn off of Premier onto Vercheres and the left turn off of Vercheres onto Premier.

4.       When the planned sewer improvements come through the Premier Way and 14^th Street intersection we are requesting that the City installs a strip of soil along behind the bus stop. This will allow the community to install a fence or hedge that will block the view of the strip mall and also make the entrance less inviting to non-residents.

Premier Way (East of 10th) - we want to slow down the traffic on Premier Way, down to the limit, plus we would like a bike path on the South side of the roadway so that our residents can get down to the Glencoe and the Elbow Park Tennis Club safely.

To do this we want to:

1.      Take the City up on their offer to build the bike path as part of their bike path network this requires that the roadway be narrowed substantially with the added benefit of slowing traffic down to the new 40 km/hr limit.

2.      Eliminate the ugly concrete center barriers and replace them with grass islands on the curved parts only. This beautifies, makes it all safer and also makes it easier for the fire trucks to get through.

South Mount Royal Park Area - this area has had Stop signs added -we feel that these signs - in conjunction with the other measures proposed in the rest of the community  -will protect this area adequately. A large number of short cutters shoot straight across 14th to access Quebec and Premier in the morning. This practice gets harder and harder as 14th gets busier - so we are not pursuing changing the signage off 14th since we feel it to be self-limiting.

Carleton - There are three measures that are being proposed for Carleton Street since Carleton and Tenth are the number two and three cut through routes (after 8th).

1.       A traffic circle /button that has been proposed at Premier Way.

2.       A Traffic Circle / button in the Frontenac intersection.

3.        A modification at the 12th Street intersection. 

Tenth - There are three measures that are being proposed for 10^th Street.

1.       The intersection of Tenth and Premier Way will operate the same as now but it will be modified so that it is not so inviting to cheat. It will also be made to look less like a forest of traffic signs.

2.       The east end of Talon. Park would be extended out to Tenth Street and a STOP sign added so as to slow the traffic down to acceptable speeds on both Tenth and Laval plus pedestrians would no longer get caught out in the middle of traffic. A STOP sign may be tried on 10^th Street at this intersection if it is deemed necessary as we go along.

3.       A modification would be made at the Frontenac intersection to slow the traffic on Tenth and Frontenac.  The jury is still out on exactly what this would look like but it would most likely be an island of some sort.

Eighth - There are five measures that are being proposed for Eighth.

1.       The intersection of Premier and 8th would lose the three way stop but only if Elbow Park is successful at getting it moved to the 7th Street intersection. We are willing to let the STOP be moved because we believe that no one will stop at it once the southbound traffic is not pouring out of 8^th Street.

2.       The Frontenac intersection would not allow traffic to go Southbound on 8th Street. This requires an additional measure at the top of Marquette to ensure that it does not carry over to Marquette.

3.       The Royal intersection would be tightened up to slow traffic and make it safer for pedestrians to cross.

4.       Eighth would be narrowed at 19th Ave to slow traffic and to allow for a Community Sign.

5.       It has been suggested that speed bumps and a crosswalk narrowing on 8th by the school may also be a good idea.

6.       Plus 8^th Street will eventually get signed as a 40-km/hr roadway.

 Colburne The problem in this area is the short cutting to bypass the 17^th Ave/14^th Street intersection. The plan includes for a double partial closure along Colburne. 

Some of these measures will be far too much for some of our residents, and not near enough for others in our community. We have tried very hard to reach middle ground, and, I would like to thank all the members of the community for their input and support. The vast majority of the community want something done but do not have the time or enough motivation to cook up ideas. We believe that we have come up with something that meets the requirements of compromise and will work.

It is important to remember that the City of Calgary has a vision for the Inner Citythat vision does not include allowances for moving traffic. In reality, the City is trying to slow the traffic down and narrow even the major roadways so that they bottleneck. As the City proceeds in this direction our nice, wide, residential roadways in Mount Royal will become increasingly attractive to commuter traffic.

We are being given an opportunity to keep in step with the changes happening outside of Mount Royal. The traffic measures that we are proposing are our attempt to keep up with these changes.

Please fill out our survey on the Internet at www.mountroyalstation.ca or send us a note in the mail with your comments (you can save a stamp and send it in with your 2001 Community Membership).

Jeff