Calgary Seeks Public Input on Potential Expansion of Memorial Drive to Eastern Boundaries

.

The City of Calgary is seeking input from residents as it explores a plan to extend Memorial Drive to the eastern city limits.

.

A city ​​poll closes on tuesday it allows Calgarians to have a say in how they would like the city to handle the prospective project, which was approved by the last city council but has not yet been funded.

The Memorial Drive extension is intended to assist with access to the developing community of Belvedere, located east of Stoney Trail between 8 Avenue NE and 26 Avenue SE Currently, Memorial Drive ends just east of 68 Street SE, in the communities existing Abbeydale and Applewood Park.

“There is going to be a projected population of over 61,000 people and 10,000 to 15,000 jobs (in Belvedere), so the connection needs to be there to support the growing community,” he told Postmedia. city ​​project manager, Zoran Carkic.

.

“It’s very important to establish that corridor connection for years to come.”

Carkic said ongoing public engagement will help inform the city’s creation of three options for the highway extension, which present to city hall in winter or spring 2023.

The roadway will need to cross the CP Railroad tracks, the Rotary Mattamy Greenway, and the Stoney Trail, and decisions will need to be made for each of those crossings.

The CP Rail crossing could be at-grade, underground or overpass, Carkic said, while the crossing for the Rotary Mattamy Greenway will likely be grade-separated. The extension will likely cross Stoney Trail via an east-west overpass, with no on-ramps or off-ramps.

The extended Memorial Drive would reach the eastern limits of Calgary, which borders the rapidly growing city of Chestermere.

.

Count Gian-Carlo Carra, whose Ward 9 encompasses the new Belvedere development, said there is no doubt that the high demand for homes on Calgary’s eastern edges will draw many residents to the area for decades to come.

But he said he wants the city to take a transit-centric approach to building transportation infrastructure in the area, expanding existing Bus Rapid Transit routes.

“There are really two ways that Belvedere can develop. It can be developed in a conventional way, which is focused on cars and everyone who lives there has cars as their main means of transportation. Or it can develop as a series of transit-oriented neighborhoods along the spine of 17th Avenue that connects to the city of Chestermere,” Carra said.

.

“As the whole area develops over time, you’ll need to build Memorial Drive, just for emergency access, movement of goods, and for those who choose to drive.”

Carra said he intends to push for the Memorial Drive extension to be delayed “as long as possible,” rather than directing city resources to transit options.

The councilman added that he hopes the eventual extension of Memorial Drive could have grade crossings at CP Rail tracks and the Rotary Mattamy Greenway, saying an overpass in those areas would be “fiendishly expensive.”

Those who wish to contribute their grain of sand to the project can do so at calgary.ca/memorialdriveeast. The online poll closes Tuesday, but Carkic said further participation in the fall will seek public input on options for the road.

He added that the public will also have a say when the project comes before the council for approval next year.

[email protected]

Twitter: @jasonfherring