Plan Your Trip - Navigating Calgary traffic and detours
Plan Your Trip - Navigating Calgary traffic and detours
Paving the way to our future. Calgary is growing —and so is the need to build, maintain and move. With 75,000 new residents and 60,000 new drivers last year alone, more construction, utility work, and special events are shaping how we get around. Whether you're walking, wheeling or driving—planning ahead helps.
Why it matters
Although it can be frustrating, construction season is essential. We maintain infrastructure, support new development, and improve connections in our city. And, as a winter city, we have a short window of opportunity to plan, schedule and complete projects.
To minimize delays and keep you safe, we coordinate roadwork, detours and lane closures across Calgary and:
- Align major construction, utility and events that impact traffic our roadways (These could be City projects, developers, or utilities like ENMAX or ATCO).
- Create safe detour plans for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
- Schedule projects to reduce disruption when possible—like working overnight or on weekends.
- Monitor roads in real-time using cameras, drones and adaptive traffic signals.
- Respond quickly to changes, like stalled vehicles or incidents.
Waze to help you get around
In 2021, The City of Calgary partnered with Waze to help Calgarians navigate the roads in every quadrant of our city. Plan your trip, choose your co-pilot, save time knowing the detours and stay safe by leaving yourself that extra time to get around.
Why Waze?
- Waze delivers real-time updates on traffic conditions, accidents, and road closures ensuring you always find the fastest route and avoid delays.
- The City’s exclusive partnership with Waze means that closures and detours are automatically updated in the app, providing you with the most accurate and up-to-date navigation app for Calgarians.
- Be part of a community of drivers who share valuable insights and help each other navigate the city with ease.
- You can personalize your Waze experience by choosing fun avatars and even reflect your mood!
Download the Waze app
We encourage every driver to download the app and use the hands-free feature to report traffic incidents when you see them.
To download the free Waze app for iOS or Android, visit https://www.waze.com/apps or through the App Store or Google Play.
Share feedback about a detour or lane closure by reporting it to 311 with a “Road Detour Inquiry” Service Request.
It’s not a pain when you have a plan
-
Before you leave go to the traffic map for road construction, road closures, detours and incidents that may affect your commute. Traffic disruptions can be sorted by city quadrant.
-
View real-time traffic camera images of current road conditions on major routes and key intersections. Cameras are listed by location or check out your route on the map.
-
Special events such as annual parades, marathon runs and celebrations require traffic control and detours to be in place. Check out our hosted events and how they can impact traffic throughout the year.
-
See your drive time! Travel times are estimated based on real-time congestion. Drive times are also displayed on electronic signs along priority roadways and intersections.
-
Our roadway signs provide drivers with current information about traffic delays, congestion and detours when there are major delays or closures.
Other ways to get around
By choosing other ways to get around, like taking the bus or train, biking or e-scooters, you can help reduce congestion and keeps our roads flowing smoothly.
Take Transit: Plan your trip, get the latest schedules or download the app to plan your journey.
Wheel instead: Calgary has the most extensive urban network of pathways & bike lanes.
Hop on an e-Scooter: Enjoy a quick ride with an e-Scooter or e-Bilke.
Traffic Talk Video Series
Check out Traffic Talk, a video series showcasing the behind the scenes work The City’s Traffic Management Centre does to keep traffic flowing.