RING ROAD CONFUSION
Province admits project ‘intrusive’ but won’t alter plan
Residents upset plans for road have moved much closer to their homes
Southwest residents whose homes are being crowded by what they call abruptly-altered ring road plans say they refuse to back down, even as construction goes full bore.
Margaret Anderson said without any warning or consultation, work on the southwest Calgary ring road swerved far from its original blueprint, moving the eight-lane freeway’s northbound lanes 50 metres closer to homes and 10 metres higher than expected.
The civil engineer said the sudden realization came last March when she noticed work on the project had leapt much closer to her home on Woodbrook Road S.W. near the intersection of 37th Street and Anderson Road.
“I was eyeball to eyeball with a worker on the berm — it was like a blitzkrieg; we’d been blindsided,” said Anderson.
The freeway itself appears to now be about 45 metres from her property, pushed closer by an unfolding interchange and adding to her horror, its route has risen to the level of her home’s foundation.
“Before, it was down so low and so far away, we barely knew it was there . ... It’s like a flood and it’s not receding,” she said.
“The original functional plan was to move the road further from our house. The plan now being built brings it closer to our home.”
The exit ramp of an interchange being constructed at the site, she added, “is nearly sitting on our property.”
Anderson said she spoke to Alberta Transportation officials when she and her husband first moved into the area in 2014 and was told the road would be far lower and to the west.
That changed without explanation or need, given there’s a 100-metre median between the north and southbound lanes that could be used to give more space for homes, said Anderson.
She said the encroaching construction has reduced the size of a protective berm, wiped out prized green space and obstructed a once-scenic view.
In recent days, about 100 residents have turned out for frontyard town hall gatherings to discuss the problem, which most believe has decimated their property values, said Anderson.
But while she said some people are resigned to the freeway’s tighter route, she remains defiant, citing the possible illegality of the new plan.
“It’s not paved yet; they’re still shuffling dirt around,” she said, emphasizing she’s not opposed to the road itself.
But as the work proceeds, Anderson said it’s taking a toll.
“I can’t sleep, I feel incredibly nervous because if something can be done, it has to be done right now,” she said.
Engineer Barry Lester, who led the construction of Prince Edward Island’s Confederation Bridge and a host of major Calgary transportation projects, said the issue originates from the gross overbuilding of the ring road section that includes eight lanes’ worth of space that will never be needed.
“It goes back to the root cause because the road is too big; there’s just not enough space for what they’re building,” said Lester. “They had open houses in past years and told people what they’d build and now they’re building something different.”
In January 2018, then-alberta transportation minister Brian Mason admitted the design for the 31-kilometre, $1.42-billion leg was vastly overbuilt and didn’t disagree with Lester’s contention it added $450 million to the project’s cost.
But he said the then-ndp government’s hands were tied by an agreement reached between the Tsuu’tina First Nation and the previous PC regime, and thus the construction route couldn’t be changed.
But on Thursday, Transportation Minister Ric Mciver wouldn’t budge on the project’s routing.
“It’s no doubt it’s close to some of the homes . ... A project this big is intrusive,” he said.
“The plan we’re building is very much or essentially the same as it has been for a long time . ... What we’re putting in the transportation and utility corridor is transportation, which really shouldn’t surprise anyone.”
Calgarians, he noted, have been waiting for decades for the road whose entire 101-kilometre network is expected to be completed in late 2021.
But he said its builders will do what they can to reduce some of the impacts, by the use of measures like sound walls.
Alberta Transportation officials also said in an email that public consultation has been ongoing since the construction’s 2016 start and that altering it “will mean millions of dollar in extra costs and significant time delays. We are not considering changing the design at this time.”
There would be no financial compensation for homeowners, the email stated.