This is what the land currently being used to construct the eastern portion of Stoney Trail used to look like. Unspoiled and a habitat for all kinds of birds. Not any more. The swamps and sloughs have all been filled in as a new freeway rises out of the dust and clamour.
For once again our city is attempting to build a ring road. Sound familiar? It should—over the years there have been numerous attempts to circumnavigate our fair city. None have been in any way successful. The problem is the developers. As soon as plans are announced, they buy up the land on either side of the proposed route and start building subdivisions. By the time said road is completed, you have traffic lights and another South Deerfoot on your hands.
On the eastern front, you have a freeway that goes from Country Hills Boulevard in the north and then just ends at 17 Ave SE in the south. That’s right, folks! It goes from the middle of nowhere to nowhere. Far from alleviating traffic problems, it will create a whole new set of them. All of the southbound traffic will have to go over to 84 St or somehow make their way back to Deerfoot Trail, doubling or tripling the amount of traffic on 17 Avenue SE.
Ring roads simply do not make sense in Calgary. They never have and never will. The city simply grows too fast. The lag between drawing up the plans for a ring road and actually executing them is too long. By the time it’s finished, your new ring road doesn’t go around anything—it goes right through the middle.
Hardly worth draining the wetlands for now is it?
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