The Memorial Drive Lane Reversal

[2soobies4me]

Hello everyone,,Newbie to the forums here after lurking for 6 mths or so.I wasn't sure where to post this topic so,i figured here might be the best,i apologize if it should be somewhere else.

I'm wondering what the general feeling is on the Memorial Drive lane reversal that goes up at 3;30 to 6 pm..Do any of you drive it on your daily commute?

For the record,I'm one of the guys driving 1 of the 2 City of Calgary trucks that do the setting up and knocking down of it Mon to Thurs.For the most part,i think it works for the purpose it was set up to do but it can be a pain in the ass for eastbound traffic.I'm just curious if any of you have to deal with it?

cheers Mike

[spikerS]

i love it. it gets rid of the bottle neck for west bound drivers and shaves an easy 15-30 mins off your travel time during rush hour. I only wish they could do something like this for the 4th ave fly over as i drive from memorial and 36th NE to bowness every day for work and back on memorial. as for east bound during those times, it is never really that bad. at most you gotta wait 2 lights to get through.

thanks for doing this on the weekdays, as someone who is always there, I appreciate it.

[JRSC00LUDE]

I sure as hell didn't like it when I woke up at the brother in law's place (right on mem. drive) and took off on a monday morning without realizing what was going on last summer! I looked like a real moron, did the ol' SK plate justice that day. :nut:

Now that I'm expecting it, it works good.

[snowboard]

i love it also
works great.
fuck that pothole after ped bridge going east though.
its gunna open up again soon lol...

[gpomp]

saves me so much time going westbound.

[2soobies4me]

the pot hole is going to take someone's body kit off by July i'm guessing,,That's not my dept though."Streets" are the clowns who are supposed to deal with that..

[lint]

I don't travel it anymore, but I loved it when I did.

People traveling eastbound need to be educated on how this should work. Seen too many people jump into the right hand lane way earlier than required and then proceed to block the left hand lane so that other drivers can't pass. Creating a hellishly long single lane instead of having 2 lanes of traffic down to the merge.

[DeeK]

Love it,

Even if all it does is get more people thru each light due to having a 3rd lane. It does it's job. It's great.

[Xtrema]

Put on traffic sign and make it permanent.

[adam c]

Originally posted by snowboard
i love it also
works great.
fuck that pothole after ped bridge going east though.
its gunna open up again soon lol...

i hit that fucking pothole today.. im so glad i changed to my winter tires yesterday.. its massive.. i have a vibration in my steering wheel and now need an alignment
i'm a little pissed off about that:banghead:

btw who the fuck do i complain to about this now?

[Lex350]

Originally posted by 2soobies4me
Hello everyone,,Newbie to the forums here after lurking for 6 mths or so.I wasn't sure where to post this topic so,i figured here might be the best,i apologize if it should be somewhere else.

I'm wondering what the general feeling is on the Memorial Drive lane reversal that goes up at 3;30 to 6 pm..Do any of you drive it on your daily commute?

For the record,I'm one of the guys driving 1 of the 2 City of Calgary trucks that do the setting up and knocking down of it Mon to Thurs.For the most part,i think it works for the purpose it was set up to do but it can be a pain in the ass for eastbound traffic.I'm just curious if any of you have to deal with it?

cheers Mike


I love it...I take that way home everyday. If it wasn't reversed, it would take forever to get through there.

[Redlyne_mr2]

They need a more permanent solution, the daily set up and knock down is sooo Mikey Mouse.

[luxor]

I love it and i hate it, just depends on which direction of memorial i'm traveling on haha but i agree that it helped out ALOT especially westbound memorial. It use to look like deerfoot at rush hour but now its always free flowing.


Originally posted by lint
I don't travel it anymore, but I loved it when I did.

People traveling eastbound need to be educated on how this should work. Seen too many people jump into the right hand lane way earlier than required and then proceed to block the left hand lane so that other drivers can't pass. Creating a hellishly long single lane instead of having 2 lanes of traffic down to the merge.

It doesn't really matter that much as cars can only move so fast in one lane through that traffic light at 10 st. Blame those idiots who accelerate very slowly after the merge and leave 5 car lengths in front while going at a mighty 30km/h velocity.



Originally posted by Xtrema
Put on traffic sign and make it permanent.

Right, thats why you aren't the one taking charge of the road signs. We really need the lane reversal after 6 pm and throughout the evening and weekends. :rolleyes:



Originally posted by adam c


i hit that fucking pothole today.. im so glad i changed to my winter tires yesterday.. its massive.. i have a vibration in my steering wheel and now need an alignment
i'm a little pissed off about that:banghead:

btw who the fuck do i complain to about this now?

Vibration is most likely a bent rim, shitty.

[2soobies4me]

Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2
Mikey Mouse.

You could've done better than that Redlyne_mr2 :D

I've heard that one too many times and there's actually 2 "Mikes" working that job so it should be "Mikey Mice".They're will be a more permanent set up installed sometime in the fall.That's what the rumor is anyway.It will have overhead lights and and some sort of gate system.

[rage2]

Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2
They need a more permanent solution, the daily set up and knock down is sooo Mikey Mouse.
They're testing to see how well it works (much like the bow trail --> 5th ave reversal setup) and move to a perm solution once it's successful. Looks like that won't be long!

[~Leah~]

I've taken it occasionally and it is awesome!

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by 2soobies4me
For the record,I'm one of the guys driving 1 of the 2 City of Calgary trucks that do the setting up and knocking down of it Mon to Thurs.

I haven't worked downtown since '04 but it seems like a great idea.

What happens on Fridays? Does someone fill in for you or is there no lane reversal on Fridays?

What do you do in the time between setting up and taking down?

[2soobies4me]

Originally posted by FiveFreshFish


I haven't worked downtown since '04 but it seems like a great idea.

What happens on Fridays? Does someone fill in for you or is there no lane reversal on Fridays?

What do you do in the time between setting up and taking down?

Weekend shift does it on Fridays.With all the road closures going on,lane reversal is just one of the jobs i get everyday.

I also got the job on 16th Ave between Centre and 6th St nw.When shit gets hit,we take out new stuff,just maintain it once it's set up.

The lane reversal goes through alot of signs.Some get hit and dragged or stolen.Cones get run over and stuck underneath alot of cars.

I always laugh at the guy in the brown GMC pickup that dragged a barrell from the west transition to underneath the 14th street bridge while hurling out Mcdonalds garbage and waving the finger at me..You gotta remember,i see the same cars everyday.You sort of get to know people !!

[BokCh0y]

I take that route all the time afterwork and i love it!!!!!

[lint]

Originally posted by luxor
It doesn't really matter that much as cars can only move so fast in one lane through that traffic light at 10 st. Blame those idiots who accelerate very slowly after the merge and leave 5 car lengths in front while going at a mighty 30km/h velocity.

It's the same principle as the lane reversal on the other side. Get more cars past 14 st before clogging up. Rather have 2 lanes of 50 cars rather than one big long 100 car lane.

[Khyron]

Absolutely love it. It helps both west mem traffic and getting cars out of the core.

[mikemechanic]

Hate it. I work at Renfrew Chrysler, they added lane reversal on Bow Trail in the AM so I have to go through downtown. When I go home I used to take Memorial and now I have to go through downtown. I see both lane reversals as a way to get the rich home faster.

[codetrap]

Originally posted by mikemechanic
Hate it. I work at Renfrew Chrysler, they added lane reversal on Bow Trail in the AM so I have to go through downtown. When I go home I used to take Memorial and now I have to go through downtown. I see both lane reversals as a way to get the rich home faster.

Because it's common knowledge that everyone who works and lives downtown is totally rich! :banghead:

I might start to feel sorry for you if you weren't driving a $50,000 car, Mr RichBoy.

[TorqueDog]

Originally posted by mikemechanic
I see both lane reversals as a way to get the rich home faster. I see it as a way of reducing the traffic issues the city is experiencing since it grew so rapidly. I'm glad to see the city is trying to alleviate these issues any way they can.

But there's always the selfish ones who don't understand. :rolleyes:

[FishPoo]

I think its great, especially when I did drive downtown which I don't anymore.

I've got eastbound during the reversal and found it smoother than expected even with the one lane, so I haven't had issues either way, probably one of the fastest ways to get out of the core.

[The Cosworth]

I hate it, I live in Bridgeland and trying to get towards the louise bridge from Crowchild is awful