Report takes another look at Crowchild Trail revamp
Five years after scrapping plan, city set to revisit congested corridor’s issues
The second time may be the charm for Calgarians living along Crowchild Trail, as the city is set to debate proposed improvements to the congested corridor.
The new Crowchild Trail Study, which next week comes before the city’s transportation committee, outlines dozens of changes along a notoriously gridlocked stretch between 17th Avenue S.W. and 24th Avenue N.W. In 2012, the city scrapped plans to expand Crowchild Trail over concerns it would bulldoze parts of several neighbourhoods.
The cost of the new plan comes in at more than $1.55 billion and the work would take decades to complete. Funds have already been made available for shortterm changes, but costs are being kept confidential as the city prepares to open contracts for bidding.
The new plan identifies 40 properties that would be affected by the proposed changes, but Coun. Shane Keating, who chairs the transportation committee, said community impact has been reduced thanks to innovative traffic-calming measures, rather than simply widening the road.
“Now we’re looking at traffic circles and different styles like that, which has been incorporated in this (plan),” Keating said. “When you look at all of those put together, it actually gets you better flow, less cost and less impact to the residents around.”
The 2012 plan said costs could be as high as $1 billion, which would be about $1.07 billion today.
Keating acknowledged there will still be communities and properties affected by the changes, but added increased community engagement and workshops by the city in West Hillhurst, Sunalta and University Heights should avoid the backlash council felt in 2012.
“The transportation department did go out ... and had a number of meetings and talked about the best way to move forward,” Keating said. “In that regard, they’ve taken the feedback and said ‘what’s the best we can do?’ and in many ways I think this plan is reflecting that.”
Many of the affected properties are in Ward 7, and area Coun. Druh Farrell said most residents are still split on the proposed changes, and affected property owners are feeling “fatigue” from the engagement process, unlike the 2012 plan, which took residents by surprise.
Farrell said the new plan has found more supporters because of a focus on two principles: “multimodal” improvements and “connecting communities across Crowchild.”
“Every decision, every suggestion, we took back and evaluated them against those founding principles, and it helped us determine what options were viable,” she said.
Farrell said some of the improvements to aging infrastructure — such as the Crowchild Trail bridge over the Bow River — will be needed regardless of the new plan, but added some of the Crowchild changes may face funding challenges when they come up against the city’s proposed Green Line LRT.
“We have to choose priorities ... focus on public transit is an increasing trend,” Farrell said.