Ward 6 News
Improvements Coming to Highway 8/Glenmore Trail
Detailed Designs to Tender
Speed Limit Adjustment
Addition of Streetlights
West LRT
Testing and Commissioning Phase
Road Reconstruction
West LRT Bicycle Route Improvements
Streetlights
Enjoy Summer in Calgary Parks
Caring for our parks
Ward 6 Open House
Fall Open House
May Celebrates 100 Years of Supervised Recreation for Children & Youth
Food & Yard Waste Collection Program – Pilot Project
Successful Start
Calgary Transit
Service Adjustments
Calgary Transit Launches RouteAhead
Ring Road
West Springs Area Structure Plan Amendment
Development in the Ward
Road Conditions App Now Available to Blackberry and Android Users
Snow Routes
The Importance of Parking Bans
Snow Removal and Snow Clearing – What’s the Difference?
Ward 6 News
Your Ward 6 team produces a regular report called the 
W6 Report which discusses a variety of topics that concern our ward. The W6 Report is sent to interested constituents through an email list. We are contantly adding to our W6 email list in an effort to better communicate with residents about what we are doing here in the office and in Council to improve life in the Ward. Past W6 Reports are also available online on our newsletters page, along with the monthly Alderman's Update that we contribute to community newsletters.
We are always seeking input from residents on what they would like to see here, on the topics of interest page, and in the W6 Rerport and Alderman's Updates. We encourage you to contact us to subscribe to the W6 Report or to add your suggestions.
Improvements Coming to Highway 8/Glenmore Trail
Over the course of several months, my staff and I have worked closely with the Transportation Department to determine and implement solutions to congestion on Highway 8/Glenmore Trail. After detailed analysis, Transportation has determined that
enhanced intersections are optimal and will assess the impact of this project before considering whether the lane reversal design is also necessary.
Detailed Designs to Tender
External consultants have produced detailed designs for a series of
operational improvements between 69 Street SW and Sarcee Trail. The project is currently out for tender and we anticipate construction will begin in mid-to-late summer.
The improvements are designed to loosen congestion at key bottlenecks along Glenmore Trail. Please have a look at the designs linked above for a better understanding of these adjustments and note that the green shading on the drawings do not signify a road widening, but the project "footprint".
Speed Limit Adjustment
Due to the reduced width of the shoulders to accomodate the new design and the lack of a barrier between eastbound and westbound traffic, an adjustment to the speed limit along this stretch of Glenmore Trail will need to be made. Once the improvements are finished, the speed limit will be adjusted 60 km/hour. The new design will help commuters get to and from downtown during peak hours much quicker, despite the reduced speed limit.
Addition of Streetlights
Along with the improvements to key bottlenecks along Glenmore Trail, we have taken this opportunity to install streetlights along the entire stretch from Sarcee Trail to 69 Street SW. This is a welcome improvement that will boost visibility and safety along an increasingly important roadway.
We will continue to update you on this topic as the project moves forward.
West LRT
The West LRT project is a massive undertaking that does and will affect Ward 6 residents in their daily lives. Construction activities have been ongoing since early 2010, while planning and conceptualization of the west leg have been in the works since the 1980s.
The West LRT is designed to serve communities in Southwest Calgary between the Bow River and the Glenmore Reservoir - a significant portion of the Ward 6 population. This area is expectedto grow from its current population of more than 105,000 to approximately 120,000 over the next 20 years. Improved transit service, particularly the LRT, will play an important role in limiting the impact of this growth on the existing transportation network.
Ward 6 residents have displayed exceptional patience throughout the construction period. Inevitably, any construction project of such large scale will affect traffic, noise and other aspects of residents' lives. The input this office has recieved from communities and residents throughout this process has been largely constructive and proactive. Residents and community leaders in Ward 6 have worked in concert with The City and the Ward 6 office to address challenges and mitigate issues before they arise. These contributions are greatly appreciated.
To receive regular updates from the West LRT office, please sign up for their
monthly e-newsletter. You can also find more details regarding the current status of various aspects of the project by viewing the West LRT
May 2012 Status Report.
Testing and Commissioning Phase
Aerial view of 45 Street Station (April 2012)
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The final phase of the West LRT project is now underway, with the first two test trains being added to the line this week. As we mentioned in previous updates, the
testing and commissioning phase requires a great deal of time to complete. Over the next couple of months, four test trains will be added to the tracks in different areas, allowing testing to take lpace throughout the line simultaneously.
Opening day is expected to be in early 2013 and I look forward to tagging along on one of the test runs that will be happening over the course of the next several months. I will be sure to report back to you on how long it takes to get downtown from the various stops along the line (estimated at this time to be about 15 minutes from 69 Street Station).
Testing is being done to ensure that there is complete integration of the various systems that allow the LRT vehicles to operate in a safe and consistent manner. The testing and commissioning phase will involve three segments: the design-build contractor's testing phase, the City of Calgary's testing phase and the LRT operator training. The entire process is expected to take up to nine months to complete.
Over the next several months, you will be able to see the new Sunalta Station guideway in use as well as the testing of systems such as the crossing arms along the entire West LRT line. The start of the testing and commissioning phase marks a significant milestone for the project.
While most of the major construction on the West LRT line is complete, there is still ongoing interior work on three of the six stations, outdoor landscaping and other minor construction activities. This work is expected to be complete by the end of 2012.
Road Reconstruction
Throughout the spring and summer, paving crews will begin completion of the various roadways around the West LRT project, including the placement of permanent asphalt, signage and road markings and repairing damages to the roads within the construction area. The realignment and pavement work on Sarcee Trail, Bow Trail and 17 Avenue west of Sarcee Trail will be completed by the end of 2012, with most of the work scheduled for July and August 2012.
This work is planned to take place as much as possible during low-traffic hours throughout the workday and at night, to minimize the impact on traffic. Although every effort will be made to minimize these impacts, they will still occur at times.
West LRT Bicycle Route Improvements
As part of the
Pedestrian and Bicycle Improvements initiative, which guides much of the planning in the areas surrounding the new West LRT line,
bicycle routes connecting to all six stations are being planned. The first
phase includes routes connecting to the 45 Street, Westbrook and Shaganappi Point Stations.
Family-friendly routes along 40 Street, 42 Street and Kelwood Drive SW and along Westwood Drive/Gateway Drive are still in the final planning stage and public feedback is welcome. You can provide your comments by phoning 3-1-1 or by
submitting online. Construction will begin in spring 2012, so get your feedback in soon!
Phase 2 will begin in late 2012 and includes the 69 Street, Sirocco and Sunalta LRT Stations.
Streetlights
Calgary's existing street lighting infrastructure is aging and also expanding as new neighbourhoods and infrastructure are developed. These two factors have led to higher than normal volumes of streetlight outages over the last several months, causing a backlog in repairs. In response to this issue, I initiated a
Notice of Motion at Council in October 2011 to address the issue. This led to the creation of a roving night crew that works to identify and fix single-light outages, freeing up daytime crews to attend to
multipe-light outages and more complex repairs. Enmax is currently putting together a second night crew that should be ready to get to work in mid-May, further improving response times.
Although the backlog continues, we have seen a great deal of progress over the past few months. In March 2012, we had about 2300 reported lights out (3.7% of the streetlights citywide). That number has been brought down to approximately 1,700, or less than 2% and continues to decrease. Some of the outstanding repairs require extensive work with overhead wires and underground utilities, much of which cannot be done until construction season begins.
While the number of streetlights out continues to drop, we anticipate that the number of new outages may increase over the next couple of months as the ground thaws. Thawing ground can cause the underground utilities to shift about, sometimes leading to underground faults. The good news is that as the ground thaws, crews can begin working on some of the existing undergound issues. With summer around the corner, daylight hours are getting longer which lessens our dependency on streetlights while driving. I am hopeful that as work progresses throughout the summer months, we will have made a significant impact on the current backlog prior to daylight hours shortening again in the fall.
You can do your part to ensure that streetlights are repaired by
reporting to 311 when you witness an outage. We do ask you to be patient as Enmax continues to work through the current backlog. Residents are encouraged to contact your
Ward 6 office when a service request older than 30 days remains in queue, particularly if it concerns a multiple-light outage on a major or residential street.
Enjoy Summer in Calgary's Parks
With the weather getting warmer we are all thinking about summer activities. Fortunately, we live in a city that makes it easy to enjoy the outdoors without leaving the city or
Douglas Fir Pathway Stairs - Edworthy Park
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even our own communities.
Calgary Parks operates and maintains over 7,800 hectares of parkland and over 700 km of pathways. Whether you are looking for a place to walk your dog, play with your kids, host an event or float on the river, or you just want to be outside enjoying the sunshine, most of these opportunities are available to you not far from your own door.
You can find nearby locations on this list of southwest parks. You can also use this interactive map to find the best locations for the activities and uses you prefer.
Caring for Our Parks
It is important that we all play our role in keeping our parks and pathways clean and safe. This means picking up after pets, reporting unsafe and unsightly conditions, understanding how to share natural areas with wildlife and ensuring that garbage and recycling are appropriately disposed of. The better we take care of our parks and pathways, the more enjoyable they are for everyone to use.
Ward 6 Open House
Thank you to everyone who came out to our spring open house on April 17. It was great to meet so many of the constituents that we serve each and every day and to reconnect with others that our office has worked with in the past. The event was well attended and featured over twenty organizations, including a variety of City departments, local organizations and
Community Associations.
Oftentimes, we hear from our residents when a concern has escalated into an immediate problem. Open houses allow us to engage with residents and find out what the priorities of the communities we serve really are so that we can address common concerns before they escalate.
While some attendees had very specific questions and concerns, others came out simply to say hello, to get to know their Alderman and the
Ward 6 staff and to learn about the work that we and our colleauges across the various City departments do. Both approaches are appreciated and help us to determine what the needs and priorities are in the Ward 6 community, so thank you for taking the time to engage us.
Fall Open House
We recognize that the communities east of Sarcee Trail may have difficulty travelling to communities further west, and that the reverse holds true of those west of Sarcee. We also recognize that these communities are different in a number of significant ways and have different needs and interests. This is why we are working with the Community Associations of
Glamorgan,
Glenbrook and
Glendale on preliminary plans for a Fall Open House to be held in Glamorgan. At this time, we welcome any suggestions residents have with regard to the types of services and organizations that you would like to see hosted at this event. Please check back regularly for updates, including the announcement of a time and date.
May Celebrates 100 Years of Supervised Recreation for Children & Youth - Help celebrate Rec100
One hundred years ago the Mayor and Council received a letter from the Children's Aid Society requesting healthful and supervised recreational opportunities for Calgary youth. Today, we continue to recognize the importance of providing recreational opportunities for children and youth.
Calgary Recreation is celebrating 100 years by offering different themed activities
throughout each month of 2012. April celebrated 100 years of
inclusive and accessible recreation in Calgary. Families can now look forward to various child and youth-oriented events and activities throughout the month of
May.
June will celebrate
parks and pathways. We look forward to seeing what events and celebrations Rec100 has planned.
Food & Yard Waste Collection Program - Pilot Project
Cougar Ridge, a Ward 6 community, has been chosen as one of four communities across The City to participate in a pilot program testing the feasibility of a city-wide Food & Yard Waste Collection Program.
The pilot kicked off Monday, March 5, 2012. Green carts were delivered to approximately 7500 homes in the pilot communities in the week prior to the program launch, along with kitchen pails, compostable kitchen pail liners, paper yard waste bags, a collection schedule and an instruction guide explaining how to use the bins and what items can be placed in them. It is surprising how many items can be put in these bins that are not appropriate for backyard composters.
Two Open Houses took place prior to the launch of the pilot project and one took place after residents had the opportunity to experience the program. The purpose of the open houses was to provide information to the public regarding the pilot program and to gain public input.
Three Open Houses for Cougar Ridge were held at the Calgary French and International School at 700-77 Street SW on the following dates:
- Thursday, February 9, 6-8 p.m., SEED cafeteria (past)
- Sunday, March 4, 2-4 p.m., SEED cafeteria
- Tuesday, April 17, 6-8 p.m., Main Gym
Food and yard waste currently make up almost 60 per cent of the residential waste going into our City's landfills. An organics collection program could significantly alter this reality and go a long way toward helping The City reach our goal of 80/20 diversion by 2020, (80 per cent of waste diverted from landfills by 2020).
Successful Start
Waste & Recycling Services has reported a high level of participation from residents in all four communities - bins are being well utilized and it seems that most residents read the information package and are aware of the variety of items they can put in the bins. As people become used to the program and adapt their daily habits, participation will only continue to increase.
The three open houses held by W&RS also produced a positive outcome, with hundreds of residents coming out the open houses in each community involved in the pilot. The general response from participants has been very positive.
To learn more about the Green Cart pilot, please visit calgary.ca/greencart.
Calgary Transit
Service Adjustments
On Monday, March 12, Calgary Transit made a number of service changes in response to ridership levels and the approved 2012 operating budget. These changes include more frequent or less frequent service on some routes, deletion of low ridership services or trips, and changes to the type of buses used on certain routes, including big buses to replace community shuttle buses (to increase service capacity) and the use of community shuttle buses to replace big buses (to reduce costs).
As well, there are many routes where the schedules have been adjusted to improve schedule adherence, improve transfers or to better match times to when customers wish to travel.
Routes affected in Ward 6 include:
- 101 (Coach Hill): Time adjustments to improve schedule reliability and revision of late night trips to improve schedule adherence; and,
- 438 (Discovery Ridge): Addition of a new location.
Calgary Transit will monitor these changes to identify and rectify any unexpected problems arising as a result of these service changes.
The criteria used to determine these service changes were:
- Minimizing loss of service to transit-dependent areas / ensure availability of alternate service choices;
- Reducing service on lowest ridership routes or route segments;
- Reducing service frequency on routes or route segments;
- Optimizing use of regular or community shuttle buses to reflect ridership;
- Increasing service on alternate routes where service has been reduced or eliminated; and,
- Adjusting schedules and routes to improve service.
Additional information regarding these changes can be found here.
Calgary Transit Launches RouteAhead
On Tuesday, March 6, 2012, Calgary Transit launched RouteAhead - a ten month project that will result in a 30-year plan focusing on:
- Continuous customer service improvement;
- Capital infrastructure planning for the growth of the bus and LRT networks;
- A fiscal strategy to sustainably manage the costs and revenues of the system;
- Organizational structure and governance of Calgary Transit; and,
- Operational service delivery objectives such as service frequency and reliability.
RouteAhead will build upon the existing Calgary Transportation Plan (CTP) and will explore new ways to better serve Transit customers. It will also discuss what is working well and what requires additional support.
The RouteAhead plan will be developed in two phases. Phase one will involve listening to and working to understand the views of customers and citizens. The project team will also research best practices from other cities and explore different approaches to service delivery.
The second phase includes development of the long-term plan for transit based on the results of public engagement and research, including existing data from surveys of Calgarians.
The RouteAhead project also involves a committee, which your own Ward 6 Alderman has been asked to serve on. The committee will begin meeting regularly in coming weeks and I look forward to being a part of this important and exciting project.
Please visit RouteAhead.ca for information about the coming public engagement process (including a list of public events) and updates on the progress of the strategic plan. As always, feel free to contact my office with any questions or comments.
Ring Road
The Province of Alberta is in the process of a Functional Planning Study for the Southwest Ring Road (SWRR); study limits from 17 Avenue SW/Stoney Trail to Highway 22X/Macleod Trail SW. The intersection of Glenmore Trail/69 Street falls within this study limits. Project completion was anticipated by December 2011, but has been extended to mid 2012. The intersection (future interchange) at Glenmore Trail/69 Street is within provincial jurisdiction and is included in the above study. Construction of this interchange will be completed as part of the southwest ring road. It is anticipated that timing for construction of the southwest ring road would commence after the southeast section is complete. The southeast section of the ring road is expected to be complete by the end of 2013 and Alberta Transportation would be considering what section of the ring road would be started next after that.
More information can be found on the SWRR provincial website.
West Springs Area Structure Plan Amendment
The City is currently reviewing the West Springs ASP to create a concept plan that will allow this area to develop in a functional and community-oriented way. An Open House was held on November 30, 2011, hosted by Land Use Planning & Policy that was well attended and an overall success. At the Open House, visitors were asked to provide feedback on the proposed Concept Plan via survey. The survey was closed on December 18 and it's results are currently under review by City planners.
To learn more about this proposal, please visit www.calgary.ca/westsprings.
Development in the Ward
Ward 6 is developing at a rapid pace. For further information regarding development, permits, etc. please visit the Development & Building Approvals website. Development permits can also be viewed by following this link.
Road Conditions App Now Available to Blackberry and Android Users
I am very excited to announce that The City of Calgary Road Conditions App - first made available to iPhone users in December, 2011 - is now available to both Blackberry and Android users.
Released February 24, I expect that the Blackberry and Android versions of the app will be just as popular as the
iPhone app, which has been downloaded by over 14,000 users to date.
The app allows users to:
- stay informed about snow events and parking bans as they are declared;
- check City traffic cameras for images of road conditions on key intersections; and,
- receive general updates on driving conditions around the City.
I encourage all smartphone users to download the app by visiting calgary.com/mobileapps, the Android Market or Blackberry App World. If you do not own a smartphone, you can visit calgary.ca/snow to check the status, sign up for email notifications, or phone 3-1-1.
Snow Routes
After the latest
Snow Event experience, our office has received a handful of emails and phone calls from residents wondering why their road had not been plowed, even though it is a snow route. We immediately contacted Roads and this is what we found:
There seems to be two issues causing confusion among citizens:
- The misconception that The City does snow removal; and
- When cars remain parked on streets, snow plows are unable to reach the curb in order to adequately plow the full roadway.
The Importance of Parking Bans
All snow plows in the city are equipped with technology that tracks their progress on snow routes. This makes it easier for Roads to determine when they can lift a parking ban, rather than waiting out the entire 72 hour period when it is not necessary. Citizens are also able to access the
Road Conditions Map to track progress on any of the P1 or P2 routes.
The above photo shows what a plowed street looks like when vehicles have not been removed. As you can see, it is difficult for plows to weave between vehicles so that in the end, it appears that the road had not been plowed at all. This is why it is so important that we all do our part by adhering to parking bans during snow events.
Snow Removal and Snow Clearing - What's the Difference?
The misconception that The City does snow removal is very understandable. The difference between snow removal and snow clearing is that snow removal utilizes different kinds of equipment which actually removes the snow and takes it to another location. Snow clearing, on the other hand, shifts snow off the roadway and into gutters. Snow clearing is a far less expensive alternative to snow removal, because it requires less expensive equipment and uses less fuel because snow is not being hauled to another location after being removed.
The City does more than simply remove snow, however. Roads takes preventative steps by applying an anti-ice coating to major roads prior to a snow fall or freezing temperatures.
Click here to learn more about The City of Calgary's Snow and Ice Control Program.
This content represents the personal views and opinions of the Ward Alderman and should not be taken as a statement of policy of The City of Calgary. The inclusion of any external content does not imply endorsement by The City of Calgary.
