Rocky Ridge Road

[iron_man888]

Does anyone know if they will ever re-open the intersection between crowchild and rocky ridge road.

I know it was closed for the construction of the new LRT station but is the city planning on constructing a similar intersection for the future?

[Cos]

No it is closed for good. There were many town hall meetings about it.

[speedog]

Don't believe it's ever going to happen - was quite an uproar by Rocky Ridge residents about this access being closed, but it had been on the city's books (as far back as 1992 - link (http://www.calgary.ca/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_0_104_0_0_35/http%3B/content.calgary.ca/CCA/City+Hall/Business+Units/Transportation+Infrastructure/Construction+Projects/Road+and+Intersection+Improvements/Rocky+Ridge+Road.htm)), well before many people bought out there.

[iron_man888]

it was so much easier to visit friends up there when there was a direct intersection.

oh well :(

[rx7_turbo2]

It always amazes me people buy houses without EVER going down to city hall to take a quick peek at what the city has planned for the area they're buying in.

[speedog]

In this age of information, it is amazing that people can' t be bothered to go on-line to look or talk to their community association or their alderman or the developer(s) of the new communities. So much of this information is readily available and yet people will crab about planes flying over their homes on a flight path that's been there for decades before they lived in the house they're in. Kind of like the SW ring road - one doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to realize that homes along 37 street SW will be toast at some point. Just like the residents of Oakridge and Cedarbrae who are angry that Southland Drive will be extended westwards past Oakfield Drive SW to the eventual SW ring road - this has also been on the books for decades and they've got to be fools to not think that that little bit of green space wouldn't eventually become an extension to the existing Southland Drive. Same thing goes for Rocky Ridge residents - this closure was on the books for decades.

[benyl]

Yes, but the book change. I can't believe that in this day and age people believe what city planners tell them.

How is a "temporary" access road temporary when it is there for 20+ years?

Haha, I don't give two shots as I live inthe cascades, but I think the city could have come up with a better solution.

[frinkprof]

Originally posted by speedog
In this age of information, it is amazing that people can' t be bothered to go on-line to look or talk to their community association or their alderman or the developer(s) of the new communities. So much of this information is readily available and yet people will crab about planes flying over their homes on a flight path that's been there for decades before they lived in the house they're in. Kind of like the SW ring road - one doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to realize that homes along 37 street SW will be toast at some point. Just like the residents of Oakridge and Cedarbrae who are angry that Southland Drive will be extended westwards past Oakfield Drive SW to the eventual SW ring road - this has also been on the books for decades and they've got to be fools to not think that that little bit of green space wouldn't eventually become an extension to the existing Southland Drive. Same thing goes for Rocky Ridge residents - this closure was on the books for decades. While I agree that people should look into things, one problem is that you can get a few different answers by asking a few different sources.

Developers/home builders/realtors will tell you anything to sell you a lot/home, gloss over negatives, etc. A "future elementary school site" or "future retail area" is alluring and will be used as selling points and put on brochures, but the detail that the school might not be built for 10 years if at all is usually left out. If you've got a 5 year old and a 3 year old and are looking to buy, that potential 10 year wait is kind of an important factor, isn't it?

As for aldermen, back around 1998 the alderman in the area (Dale Hodges) worked to delay the closure of the road and the "temporary access" signs were removed, so people were left without that information. No wonder people were confused and up in arms when it finally was closed last year. Hodges tried to delay the closure again this time around but it would be all but impossible to accommodate the new Stoney/Crowchild interchange, since the land that Rocky Ridge Road occupied was needed for that.

[speedog]

One only has to look at Crowchild Trail and the very few intersections on it going back into the city and realize that the Rocky Road intersection was going to be toast at some point. Yeah, developers/etc will tell prospective home buyers anything, but a little digging and even common sense will reveal a lot. That said, I am impressed with the Bridlewood/Evergreen area where our shop is - lots of new schools built in the past year, but one little unknown to many Bridlewood residents is the impending closure of the 24th Street access to the 22x once the ring road is complete - businesses that built/located in the Royal Bank area of Bridlewood will be on a dead end.

[rx7_turbo2]

Originally posted by benyl
Yes, but the book change. I can't believe that in this day and age people believe what city planners tell them.

How is a "temporary" access road temporary when it is there for 20+ years?



"Temporary" means it's not permanant. 20 years, 50 years, 100 years doesnt matter. Anybody with half a brain could figure that out.

As for all the nonsense about developers, home builders, and realtors giving misguided information, again anybody with half a brain already knows that and should have made a trip to City Hall to find out what the "real deal" is. Lots of the homes affected are well over a half mil, most of those people dropped that much cash without doing any research. Boo fucking hoo as far as I'm concerned.

[speedog]

So this has become a bit of an election issue in Rocky Ridge/Royal Oak (see Calgary Herald story (http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Voters+with+Calgary+traffic/3613197/story.html)). Further perusal of the Rocky Ridge/Royal Oak Community Association's Rocky Ridge Road Closure Community Committee blog (http://r3c3.blogspot.com/) shows how facts can be skewed (by either side) and how some residents in this area have actually called to task some of the information that this group was putting out there. Better yet is how residents of one area of this community are duking it out with other residents over what could be done to alleviate traffic concerns within this community.

Never the less, this access to Crowchild Trail NW is a dead issue - yeah, it sucks for the residents of this community, but seeing as this was on the books since 1992, it is probably time that people move on and look to resolving the problems that exist now within this community. The hoped for Crowchild Trail NW access is just not going to happen and to continue to harp on about it (with current news stories even) is fruitless IMHO - work to fix what you can there or move away. We did just that 14 years ago - moved away from an inner-city community because we knew the 16th Avenue expansion was going to negatively affect where our house was in that community. Some things you can fight, others you can not and Rocky Ridge/Royal Oak residents have to move on and pick the right battles to fight now