Ring Road and the South Calgary riding

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  • #88905
    2wheeler
    Participant

      One of the most pleasant areas to ride in and around Calgary is South of the City. There used to be multiple ways to access these quiet roads, but with construction on 22X most of the access points have been removed or aren’t easily used by bike.

      I used to always ride out on 37th Street to cross 22X but now with construction pylons it’s a little tricky to cross the multiple lanes of traffic. The project doesn’t make any allowance for pedestrians or cyclists. They’ve made it more difficult to cross safely than it used to be.

      You used to be able to take 24th Street, which was a nice quiet option, but that has been removed from service entirely.

      Heading further East, Range road 14 (James McKevitt and Spruce Meadows dr.) has been ripped up and is no longer passable at all.

      Heading further East is 6th Street SW and Sherriff King Street which is under construction, with many pylons, lane changes, narrow lanes and of course, no allowance for cyclists.

      So there we have it. There used to be 4 good ways to access the South by bike from Calgary, West of McLeod Trail and now there are no good options. It seems to me that none of the construction projects have made any allowance for cyclists. I think it’s irresponsible of the Province to ignore such a large user group of the infrastructure of this area. If you’ve ridden down there you know it’s one of the nicest and most popular areas in the Spring and summer to ride. It would be great if there could be some consideration paid to the safety of all road users during these projects.

      #90651
      Next
      Participant

        my favorite point to cross 22X and Stoney Trail is 52 Street SE.
        no problem at all.
        I ride SE a lot.
        Calgary infastructure is falling apart as we speak.
        mid of summer and no any major asphalt work? where?
        cracks all over pathways.
        simply put I love riding on less than 10 years old whatever asphalt.

        #110306
        ride
        Keymaster

          Has the access situation improved in the southwest lately? The original post was a couple of months ago.

          #110391
          bpmford
          Participant

            This question actually got me thinking of the Rotary Mattamy Greenway, and the section that gets a rider from North Glenmore to Signal Hill.

            Prior to the Stoney Trail construction and the new bridge for 37th Street, you just wound through Glamorgan and crossed 37th south to Glenmore Reservoir.

            Two weeks ago, when I did the Greenway ride, with the bridge incomplete, I had to ride a big detour. I went all the way through Mount Royal, and past Glenmpre Trail at the Crowchild intersection. The detour added 25 minutes to my ride.

            I’m curious if there’s a better detour option.

            #119903
            sclim
            Participant

              So: we are still in the dark, with the Ring Road/Tsuu T’ina Trail pretty well complete except the connections from Fish Creek Blvd to Stoney Tr/Hwy 22x which looks almost physically completed but still closed. I used to bike up 37st bridge to 22x up to last fall to access that really nice wide shoulder on 22x for fast road biking maybe all the way to Bragg Creek or Turner Valley. But now 37st is Ring Road I guess bikes won’t be allowed. How do we get to 22x? As previous posters have said, it seems really irresponsible to build the ring road infrastructure on top of existing bike networks withou thinking of where those bikers would go. I asked my city rep in 2019 but I got no feedback.

              #119912
              ride
              Keymaster

                That sounds like an oversight. As for how it could happen, the Ring Road was financed with provincial funds rather than City funds , so likely it gets treated the same way as Deerfoot Trail which is also provincially managed. I suspect Bike Calgary will have to get in touch with the provincial transportation minister to attempt to get this addressed – and good luck getting a rapid response on that. perhaps a group ride to get media attention would do the trick?

                #119913
                sclim
                Participant

                  Never mind provincial transportation minister — this is a City of Calgary transportation infrastructure deficiency, not to mention Parks & Recreation. Perhaps Fish Creek Park pathways might be involved, in which case it would be Provincial Park jurisdiction,I guess, but why could they not have left a bike accessible lane on the 37 street bridge across Fish Creek? It would have been so inexpensively done.

                  #119934
                  2wheeler
                  Participant

                    I ride the shoulder of the 201 (Ring Road) South from Buffalo Run Blvd. across Fish Creek and up the hill to Fish Creek Blvd. and rejoin 37th street. I certainly hope I’m not breaking any laws as that is the only way to navigate by bicycle without a huge detour.

                    Now they’ve completely removed 37th street so that you can’t cross 22X to the other side (to 96th St SW).Since 37th Street has been excavated does anyone know if you can go one block west to 53rd St and use this to cross 22X? It look to me like this is a City of Calgary area.

                    You can also go down through Fish Creek Park and take a pathway east then south to emerge on James Mckevitt. You can take this south to cross 22 X but as I said it’s a very large detour with some congested riding on the Fish Creek pathways. Not ideal for a road ride.

                    I agree that the Province is really remiss on providing safe passages around the Ring road for pedestrians and cyclists. Is the Ric McIver’s doing? He’s been a pain in cyclists butt’s for an eternity!

                    #119935
                    sclim
                    Participant

                      @2wheeler: Yeah, that’s exactly what I was talking about. I wasn’t clear, from how you worded it, have you actually ridden the shoulder of 201 South, illegally, or were you contemplating it. If you did it, how far to 37st did you get? I’ve got an email in to my ward Councillor Diane Colley-Urquhart which has triggered a request for information to the Provincial Ring-Road Information source, but still awaiting reply.

                      #119936
                      2wheeler
                      Participant

                        I’ve ridden the shoulder of 201 south several times since the latest construction changes, to access Fish Creek Blvd and over to 37th Street SW. I’ve been riding across that bridge since it was built, there is no indication that bicycles aren’t allowed to use it. The shoulder is decently wide and with current construction the speed limits are a little lower. It would be nice if they’re was a “share the road” or “watch for cyclists” and stencils to confirm our ability to use that section.

                        The last time I rode 37th Street to the south we discovered that the road had been excavated around 22X and it was no longer connected. A short hike through the muddy construction and sprint across 22X took us to the South side of 22 X. Not ideal with cycling shoes!

                        So much effort has gone into the Rotary/Mattamy Greenway paralleling the ring road I’m a little surprised that no effort has been made in this part of the City. It seems that anything South of Fish Creek Park isn’t considered for cycling infrastructure.

                        #119937
                        sclim
                        Participant

                          @2wheeler: when was the last time you rode the 201 shoulder to Fish Creek, and 146 to 39th?

                          I agree right now with light traffic and wide shoulder it’s really safe. My worry is that we’re currently under the radar, but will be seen as the scofflaws once they get their act together and start viewing that portion of 201 south of 130Ave as the legitimate part of Ring Road once it’s connected at 162 Ave and 22x.

                          #119938
                          2wheeler
                          Participant

                            Well then we’d better start advocating with the Province and City to make sure that our access isn’t taken away!. Hey Bike Calgary, is this on your radar?

                            #119939
                            sclim
                            Participant

                              @2wheeeler: I’m really hoping your view actually is or becomes reality. But my worry is that a Ring Road, like Deerfoot Trail, cannot legally allow bike traffic, even if at this stage of uncompleted construction the traffic volume feels safe to us. In other words, possibly that avenue of access is already taken away (legally, anyway).

                              #119940
                              2wheeler
                              Participant

                                Deerfoot has signs indicating no bikes at all on ramps. It’s my understanding that Deerfoot has a special legal designation allowing the Province to prohibit cycling. That doesn’t necessarily apply to the Ring road.

                                If they do try and prohibit cycling we could argue that they must make reasonable alternatives routes, which in this case I don’t think they have.

                                #119941
                                sclim
                                Participant

                                  @2wheeler: “It’s my understanding that Deerfoot has a special legal designation allowing the Province to prohibit cycling”. I didn’t know about that. That’s good to know, that Deerfoot is a special situation where the Province has stepped in to prohibit cyclists. That implies that without this special requirement bicycles can retain their eligibility to use any road where vehicular traffic is allowed. Do you have any information whether bicycles are allowed on, say, Anderson Road? For some reason I just assumed once the speed limit is 80k/h, it is a freeway, and bicycles weren’t allowed.

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