In Edmonton for the week

[b31den]

I spent the past week in Edmonton for some classes and noticed some things that are quite (surprisingly) different from Calgary

- Lots of dual turn lanes (way more than Calgary). The short dotted lines for dual lanes are also rare in calgary.

- Lots of 6-lane urban roads (Calgary mostly only has 4-lanes). Some of the arterials in edmonton are pretty appealing with large trees planted in the medians and minimal building setbacks on each side. 111th Ave reminds me a lot of Garmischer Strass in Munich.

- More pickups and SUVs

- Road surfaces are in much worse shape (including painted lines)

- Weirdly some traffic signage is different: the sign used to indicate a right hand corner cut. That sign in calgary is only used to show that there is a divider among traffic flowing in the same direction (ie: bridge pier). I dont think corner cuts are signed in Calgary. Always thought signage would be universal across the province.

- Ive always heard good things about the river parks but was surprised that it doesnt have the same extent of paved paths suitable for commuting (at least in West edmonton). The new pedestrian bridge should help with this, although I think many more bridges are needed. This is probably due to the more meandering and wider river. I was very disappointed that new subdivisions were allowed to be built so close to the river embankment, eliminating the possibility of a pathway following the rim of the valley.

[Qafir Arnaut]

Originally Posted by b31den

- Lots of 6-lane urban roads (Calgary mostly only has 4-lanes).

The military cavalry is here. Them tanks and testicled pickups need some heee-haww space. I hear there's a guy who has a private tank and parks it on his lawn..and then he snitched on Rahim Jaffer.

[ue]

Were you trying to post mostly negatives?

I'm sorry Calgary and Edmonton seem to have about the same number of pickups/SUVs. I see no difference between them.

Did you even wander into Central Edmonton (ie Downtown, Whyte, Oliver, Garneau, North edge, etc.)?

[0773|=\]

Originally Posted by b31den

- Weirdly some traffic signage is different: the sign used to indicate a right hand corner cut. That sign in calgary is only used to show that there is a divider among traffic flowing in the same direction (ie: bridge pier). I dont think corner cuts are signed in Calgary. Always thought signage would be universal across the province.

Alberta without a doubt has the worst and least consistent signage in the entire country. It doesn't help that they have a habit of changing their standards every 10-15 years either, but they fail to update many of their signs that were from an earlier 'standard'.

On major highways in the province it is very pronounced. Advance signage is not designated at a specific distance from an intesection/exit. Reassurance markers are often randomly placed. Alberta's highway shield design has changed numerous times and hasn't been updated on many existing signs. Some of the ring road markers are even posted under the secondary highway symbol. Some Highway 16 markers near edmonton don't have the Trans Canada Highway shield on them, some signs that have no business being posted along the median are ("caring for Alberta's highways"), and then cities do their own thing to boot (signage on the Whitemud for instance doesn't resemble signage on provincially managed highways--this shouldn't be).

I guess you don't notice it too much until you go somewhere else. I've been in Ontario for the last few weeks and I must say, signage is far more consistent. As a visitor, it's nice knowing what to expect in advance of an intersection or interchange.

[Qafir Arnaut]

Originally Posted by 0773|=\

Alberta without a doubt has the worst and least consistent signage in the entire country.

And to think that the budged of AB Min. of Transportation is just as big as Ontario's albeit the province has less than 1/3 its population

[0773|=\]

Originally Posted by edmontonenthusiast

Were you trying to post mostly negatives?

I'm sorry Calgary and Edmonton seem to have about the same number of pickups/SUVs. I see no difference between them.

Did you even wander into Central Edmonton (ie Downtown, Whyte, Oliver, Garneau, North edge, etc.)?

There's still a lot of positives he mentioned there, EE. I thought it was fair.

Our six-lane boulevards and dual turning lanes, particularly since they are in more central areas, have done wonders to ensure that Edmonton doesn't experience the traffic tie-ups that many comparably-sized cities experience. Not exactly an urban form, but if cars are inevitably going to exist, ensuring their smooth movement does make a city far more accessible. That being said, we have to put up with a level of frost-heave that Calgary simply doesn't experience, so yes, our roads are going to be rougher to drive on.

Comments regarding river valley trails in the west end are (unfortunately) accurate. I don't know how they could run much between McKinnnon Ravine and Laurier Park (the bank is just too steep). At the same time, depending on where you live relative to the river valley trail system, you can still have a quick commute if you know where you're going. I hope the city adopts a better policy to ensure public accessibility to the river valley further away from the central area. Supposedly its a part of the grand plan for the river valley system extending from Devon to Fort Saskatchewan... I also would love to see bike commuter lanes along corridors outside the river valley. It would help immensely for places where collector roads don't exist.

[dansk]

Thanks for the post, Just moving to Edmonton, I would agree with your post. Very Fair.

[240glt]

Our roads are rougher than Calgarys, generally speaking. What used to drive me nuts about Calgary roads is they'd strip the asphalt down and then leave irt for a year, so you had to bounce your way over manholes and saw cuts. Elbow drive was a bone jarring suspension destroying disaster for 2 years I remember.

The traffic does flow a lot better here. Anyone who complains about Edmonton traffic needs to spend some time in Vancouver.

I never noticed the signage when I moved here, but what screwed me up (and still does sometimes) is the horizontal traffic lights. As a mildly colorblind person, it turns out I was gauging the lights by the positions: top=stop, etc. It's a little harder when the lights are horizontal.

I think the OP should have spent some more time in the River Valley. Hands down the finest attraction in our city (especially for the outdoor enthusiast) Nothing in Calgary comes close.

[b31den]

I wasnt trying to slam Edmonton, I was just stating some differences from Calgary that I was surprised about.

I am certainly a fan of the large boulevards and dual turn lanes. They are built so that they can handle good traffic flow but still feel urban and not cut off neighbourhoods from each other.

Like i said earlier though, it would have been optimal if the river path system had large ROWs at the top of the river valley. This way there could be commuter trails on each escarpment plus one following the river down in the valley.

Calgary also has some spots where public access to the river isnt very good, although only in older areas as far as I know. Deerfoot trail ruined the east bank of the bow river from memorial drive to peigan trail.

[codeman9669]

Originally Posted by Qafir Arnaut

And to think that the budged of AB Min. of Transportation is just as big as Ontario's albeit the province has less than 1/3 its population

To be fair - I recall it being quoted somewhere that AB has 1/4 of the paved highways in Canada...

[SHOFEAR]

Originally Posted by codeman9669

To be fair - I recall it being quoted somewhere that AB has 1/4 of the paved highways in Canada...

not that surprising really, just think about how much of Alberta is criss crossed with TWP and RR. Something that really only manitoba and sask also have to deal with and we simply have the money to pave anything of significance.