Driving the Trans-Canada Highway between Calgary and Chestermere was straight at 110 kilometers per hour.
But over the years, development and design changes have shifted the posted speed so much that drivers have to slow down and speed up every few clicks to contend with posted limits between 70 and 110 km/h.
The last change is just after the Stoney Trail fork. Rocky View County has asked Alberta Transport to address safety concerns on the short stretch of highway.
Some drivers believe this piecemeal approach to road safety is distracting, adds to commute times and can do more harm than good.
“I hadn’t actually gone through it yet but the next day I did and I thought ‘this is ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous,'” Conrich resident Shelley Innes said. “There is no need for this reduction in speed for this short stretch of road. There’s no point. It makes it difficult to get on and off this highway.”
What was 110 km/h has now dropped to 80, a limit that lasts for about three kilometers before returning to 110.
This gear shift costs Ines and others extra commuting time. She said it now takes her 10 to 20 minutes to merge onto the Trans-Canada because of the traffic backup.
The executive director of operations for Rocky View County said the request came from residents of Cambridge Estates. The community has access to Highway 1 from a country road that crosses the highway.
“We’ve seen quite a few accidents at this intersection in recent years, some serious, some minor,” Byron Riemann said.
After discussion in council, Rocky View asked the province last December to lower the speed limit and Alberta Transportation obliged. New signs were only recently put up.
The Chestermere resident is advocating for change
Drivers noticed the change almost immediately, and it became a topic of discussion in local Facebook groups. But Chestermere resident Tom Decker hopes those keystrokes translate into action.
He sees the ever-changing speed limits on the Trans-Canada Highway as a policy failure.
“We know what the gold standard for freeways is: it’s split-level interchanges,” Decker said. “Are we going to commit to the work that needs to be done to make the stretch as safe as possible?” Or will we continue to implement these interim solutions? And if we’re going to make these interim decisions, let’s make sure we’re looking at the whole network.”
Dekker hopes commuters will contact their elected officials to voice concerns about the speed changes on Highway 1.
Decker said he would contact Transport Minister Prasad Panda.
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