2014 Calgary Frost Heave Warning thread

[MGCM]

This thread is designed for members of beyond to post up areas of Calgary(and surrounding areas) that have developed some rather nasty frost heaves on our roads. I will do my best to keep the OP updated with all the latest info that fellow beyonders have posted. So far City of Calgary has proved not capable of posting up these warnings properly and in an efficent manner, leave it to beyond, we got it covered ;)

THE OFFICIAL LIST FOR 2014

-MCKNIGHT BLVD.......all of it? Not sure there is a good section left anywhere, its really ugly in many places, beware, go slow, fuck the asshole behind you, he will get a flat tire on the next gaping hole that he cannot see while parked on your bumper ;)

-JOHN LAURIE BLVD, between 19th st nw & shaganappi trail, the one larger hill is scary, tiny little "bump" sign and massive frost heaves, i let off the gas and held on for dear life, take it slow there fellow beyonders, your suspension will thank you

POST UP FELLOW BEYONDERS, where are ugly parts? how ugly? did you break anything?

[firebane]

Signs are on out on Barlow right near the 16th Ave overpass. The road is like a roller coaster there.

[pf0sh0]

Anyone live in Auburn Bay/ Cranston?


The frost heave on deerfoot south in that area is really bad.. Hate them so bad, you really have to slow down if you don't want to fly out of the seat.

[Modelexis]

I think it would be easier to make a list of roads that aren't fucked. I can't think of one at the moment.

Trading in my sport bike for a motocross bike to take on the Calgary whoops sections that span for several kms.

[EK69]

lol first time i saw the "frost heaves" sign at mcknight northbound just past barlow trail i was like "wtf is that?"... i very quickly found out as i was thrown around in my seat :eek:

its spelled john laurie blvd btw ;)

and thus far those are the only roller coaster streets i have encountered myself

[roll_over]

Both directions on Deerfoot just south of Stoney trail are unreal bad

[MGCM]

Originally posted by roll_over
Both directions on Deerfoot just south of Stoney trail are unreal bad

Stoney SW, or Stoney NW?

[MGCM]

Originally posted by firebane
Signs are on out on Barlow right near the 16th Ave overpass. The road is like a roller coaster there.

North and South?

[roll_over]

Deerfoot in the south, south of the road FKA 22x

[Cowtown_Raider]

Barlow Trail NE at 16th Ave. Nice 'n bouncy.

[Graham_A_M]

Pardon my stupidity, but whats a "frost heave" Ive never heard of that before this thread.

Stony Trail and Sarcee were amazing, doing 120-130 the whole time. No issues on Deerfoot or 17th either.
:rofl:

[Sentry]

There's a FUCKING GNARLY one on Stoney Westbound just before the Deerfoot overpass.

Like if you are doing 100 you will catch air. I slowed to 70 and still came down so hard all my tires rubbed. Shit's gonna cause an accident.

Also southbound Crowchild between Dalhousie and Brentwood is quite bad.

[speedog]

Originally posted by Graham_A_M
Pardon my stupidity, but whats a "frost heave" Ive never heard of that before this thread.
Go for a drive on WB McKnight from 19th Street NE to 12th Street NE - stay in the right lane for even more shits and giggles. Bearable in our Trailblazer but one hell of a bumpy ride in my Sonic, have to actually slow down in spots because it's so bad.

[bignerd]

Originally posted by Sentry
There's a FUCKING GNARLY one on Stoney Westbound just before the Deerfoot overpass.

Like if you are doing 100 you will catch air. I slowed to 70 and still came down so hard all my tires rubbed. Shit's gonna cause an accident.



Yes!!! I have been wondering about this, I also slow down (and drive an SUV but still feel like I am going to bottom out) and everyone gets angry and goes around me. Waiting for someone to take it at 130+ and lose control of their car. I have a box in the back of my vehicle and it goes airborne everytime I go over this. Hope they fix it in the spring.

[speedog]

Originally posted by Sentry
There's a FUCKING GNARLY one on Stoney Westbound just before the Deerfoot overpass. Is that on the north side or south side of the city?

[firebane]

Originally posted by Graham_A_M
Pardon my stupidity, but whats a "frost heave" Ive never heard of that before this thread.

Stony Trail and Sarcee were amazing, doing 120-130 the whole time. No issues on Deerfoot or 17th either.
:rofl:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frost_heaving

[bignerd]

Originally posted by speedog
Is that on the north side or south side of the city?

North.

I called the city to complain, but the highway is provincial. They gave me Carmax's number as they maintain those roads (403-543-8750) Carmax says they only remove debris from the road. It is provincial infrastructure who would have to deal with it etc etc . Lady said she would forward my note onto someone in the office, whatever that means.

[Sentry]

Originally posted by speedog
Is that on the north side or south side of the city?
North siyeeed *throws up gang sign*

Didn't know it went east of Deerfoot on the south end now?

[lilmira]

Yep Eastbound Crowchild by Shag/Dalhousie, the usual spot every year.

Westbound Crowchild up the hill where Sarcee merges, you'll see the pothole warning signs lol.

[speedog]

Originally posted by Sentry

North siyeeed *throws up gang sign*

Didn't know it went east of Deerfoot on the south end now?
Believe that Stoney now runs up to Macleod in the south end which would make Deerfoot and Stoney crossing each other twice. Dual signage in south end as 201 and 22X from east side 22X/201 intersection to Macleod Trail.

[Sentry]

Originally posted by lilmira
Westbound Crowchild up the hill where Sarcee merges, you'll see the pothole warning signs lol.
That one's like a year old though so I've learned to right-lane it by now haha

[revelations]

Yea some bad ones this year, esp with the new Stoney Trail - I wonder how long until a semi loses their load and someone dies as a result :(

[FiveFreshFish]

Exit ramp from northbound Barlow Tr NE to eastbound 16 Avenue NE.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@51.0654141,-114.0004726,16z

[SpeedIllusion]

On Peigan Trail between 26th Street and 36th Street SE.

[jdmXSI]

Originally posted by lilmira
Yep Eastbound Crowchild by Shag/Dalhousie, the usual spot every year.

Westbound Crowchild up the hill where Sarcee merges, you'll see the pothole warning signs lol.

Haha, fuck tell me about it.... I think i caught some air heading east just after Shaganappi tr:whipped:

[MGCM]

Originally posted by Modelexis
I think it would be easier to make a list of roads that aren't fucked. I can't think of one at the moment.

Trading in my sport bike for a motocross bike to take on the Calgary whoops sections that span for several kms.

lol im starting to see what u mean...........honestly in everyones opinion is this not the worst year to date for this?

[AE92_TreunoSC]

Mcknight always does this, I find deerfoot south of stoney to be awful as well. I miss my big soft SUV :(

[civic_stylez]

Pardon my lack of knowledge on what may be obvious here but does the ground have to thaw before the city will even attempt to fix this? I live in Auburn Bay and that shit is like a ski jump. I have a specific course/route that i take to avoid the worst parts of it even though they are brutal in both directions of deerfoot/22x The city just pops down a bump sign and leaves it there forever. You wouldnt know it by the weather now but bike season is coming and i really dont want to have to deal with that every day...

[rx7_turbo2]

Originally posted by MGCM
honestly in everyones opinion is this not the worst year to date for this?

Yes.

[MGCM]

Lots of great info here thanks guys keep it coming. I plan to reformat my OP with all the new info this weekend.

[heavyD]

32nd Avenue N.E. heading east between Deerfoot and 12th Street is destroyed.

People complained about the snow removal so the city went heavy on chemicals the past few years and it's destroying the roads.

[MGCM]

Originally posted by heavyD
32nd Avenue N.E. heading east between Deerfoot and 12th Street is destroyed.

People complained about the snow removal so the city went heavy on chemicals the past few years and it's destroying the roads.

i imagine 19th st ne between 32nd ave and mcknight blvd is getting rather nasty too ya? seems to be like mcknight blvd most years too

[BlueHaloGirl]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Sentry
[B]There's a FUCKING GNARLY one on Stoney Westbound just before the Deerfoot overpass.

Like if you are doing 100 you will catch air. I slowed to 70 and still came down so hard all my tires rubbed. Shit's gonna cause an accident.

OMG yes I hit this one last week doing 100...I got air and then scraped all 4 of my mud flaps...hard...thank god I'm not lowerd!!!

Also heading west on Glenmore Tr. just past the Ogden/Shepard Rd. lights in the right lane there's a huge pothot...I mean this thing will eat a bus or 18 weeler!!! It's close to the curb so you can avoid it by hugging the center line...if your in something small enough. If not stay in the left lane.

[Skidro]

On highway 8 right before it turns into sarcee/glenmore there is a huge ass bump on the left passing lane, at the end of the straightaway.
Not sure if this would be a frost heave or just shitty road construction lol

[heavyD]

Originally posted by Skidro

Not sure if this would be a frost heave or just shitty road construction lol

As with most cases it's a bit of both. Road construction in this city is absolutely abysmal. The area on John Laurie heading east just past Shaganappi always had heaves in that spot but they got considerably worse after they were repaved a three years ago because the contractor did a worse job than the guys before them. It just gets worse and worse as these road construction companies take advantage of the city passing off substandard work.

[FraserB]

It also has a lot to do with the city not wanting to pay for a proper repair, age of the roads involved and crappy weather in Alberta.

[heavyD]

Originally posted by FraserB
It also has a lot to do with the city not wanting to pay for a proper repair, age of the roads involved and crappy weather in Alberta.

Yeah but I think we can all agree it's got substantially worse since the city started using more road salt/chemicals the past couple of years.

[Skidro]

Is it the chemicals that are breaking up the roads or the constant sub freezing/thawing cycle we have because of our weather?

[120Comm]

Originally posted by Sentry
There's a FUCKING GNARLY one on Stoney Westbound just before the Deerfoot overpass.

Like if you are doing 100 you will catch air. I slowed to 70 and still came down so hard all my tires rubbed. Shit's gonna cause an accident.

I'm normally just heading westbound off Métis at that point - I get over into the left lane where it's less of an issue, but I saw a sedan porpoising pretty hard in the right lane the other day.

It's almost like a 36" culvert collapsed under there or something.

Highway 8 between 101 Street (right at the city limits) and 69 Street is pretty bad. I drive a Raptor and the wheelbase must be just the wrong length for it. My sister's minivan doesn't have nearly as hard a time.

[DEATH2000]

Sarcee Tr climbing up the hill towards 17th is kinda brutal.

Anderson Rd/37th at 130th right before the lights going down hill. I slow to 60 over it as theirs 3 different dips.

[benyl]

There is one on 5th ave just before 4th street going east bound in the second lane from the left.

Also the usual one going up Sarcee from 16th ave. You'll catch air on that one.

[firebane]

Originally posted by benyl
There is one on 5th ave just before 4th street going east bound in the second lane from the left.

Also the usual one going up Sarcee from 16th ave. You'll catch air on that one.

The one going up the hill on Sarcee off of 16th isn't a frost heave. That sucker has been there since the summer and I think its caused by water running under the road.

Its still a bad bump.

[4WARNED]

Shawnessy DR east of macleod....pick a direction, up or down the hill.
Was just repaved last summer - well done city, well done. :thumbsdow

[120Comm]

Found another set on my way home tonight. Hwy 22 west of Priddis Creek Estates, on the hill where part of the road caved in a few years ago. Surprise surprise it's like a set of triple whoops at Primm.

[flipstah]

Originally posted by firebane
Signs are on out on Barlow right near the 16th Ave overpass. The road is like a roller coaster there.



Originally posted by Cowtown_Raider
Barlow Trail NE at 16th Ave. Nice 'n bouncy.

[codetrap]

I've been all over the city. It's no-where near as bad as Edmonton, summer or winter. Put yet big girl panties on and suck it up Princess. :D ;)

[MGCM]

Originally posted by codetrap
I've been all over the city. It's no-where near as bad as Edmonton, summer or winter. Put yet big girl panties on and suck it up Princess. :D ;)

Mine has this really cool flower on it ;)

[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by codetrap
I've been all over the city. It's no-where near as bad as Edmonton

Well I don't think anyone will argue there.

[Hakkola]

Originally posted by civic_stylez
I live in Auburn Bay and that shit is like a ski jump.

Yeah, when that first got bad I was going about 120 over that bump and got air, hit my head twice. I had a laugh but it was slightly unnerving, a little ice there and I easily could have lost control. I messaged my gf and told her someone is going to die there. I'm surprised there hasn't been a major collision because of it.

[codetrap]

MGCM, lol..

[88CRX]

Saw someone that lost their trailer and snowmobile on the deerfoot roller coaster a couple weekends ago. This was right when in first got bad and they hadn't put signs up yet. I'd have been pissed if that was me.

[sneek]

Originally posted by GTS4tw


Well I don't think anyone will argue there.

:rofl: so true. The roads in Edmonton are the worst I have seen almost anywhere in the world. The might as well not pave it. My coworkers always make fun of me for taking a rental car up to Edmonton but that city seriously needs to work on their roads.

Not exactly a frost heave, but that giant crater in the road where 32nd ave and 49st meet is awful.

[gamman]

age of the roads involved

then whats the issue with hwy8? It was redone within 18 months?....Its so bad, you can see all the black/brown road ice that falls off of the cars on the side of the road.

At first, I was driving west on hwy 8 halfway to get to 69th street, doing speed limit, saw all the blackbrown chuncks on the curbside of the road, and was like wtf is all the ice doing on the side...BANG BANG...oh, thats why...

[Ruggzy_McTuggz]

Originally posted by MGCM
I will do my best to keep the OP updated with all the latest info that fellow beyonders have posted.

Great idea for a thread, but you are slackin' ! lol

[tch7]

Originally posted by gamman
age of the roads involved

then whats the issue with hwy8? It was redone within 18 months?....Its so bad, you can see all the black/brown road ice that falls off of the cars on the side of the road.

All they did back then was slightly widen the shoulders and repaint the lines. Most of the road surface is quite a bit older, and since they didn't fix that when they had the opportunity, it means the new parts are deteriorating faster.

[Khyron]

I've lived here my whole life and have never even noticed more than a few mild humps until this year. Crowchild W and E the last few nights in the FRS I was baffled WTF it was so bumpy. I just assumed it was crap construction. Glenmore is still pretty good and it's not as new either.

[KrisYYC]

Ramp from eastbound Glenmore to Northbound Deerfoot has a pretty big one that seems to get worse by the day. Sketchy when it's slippery because you're in a fairly sharp turn when you hit it.

[MGCM]

Originally posted by Ruggzy_McTuggz


Great idea for a thread, but you are slackin' ! lol

i know lol, i havent been on my computer this weekend yet, i hate doing that much editing on my android, its too painful lol.

[Mar]

Why did this happen? I don't remember it happening any other year.

[speedog]

Originally poalways and by Mar
Why did this happen? I don't remember it happening any other year.
Nah, McKnight by the airport and John Laurie by Brisbois are always an annual frost heave shit show.

[heavyD]

Originally posted by Mar
Why did this happen? I don't remember it happening any other year.

Because of the excessive use of chemicals over the past few years. You probably have noticed that that chemicals enable the snow to melt even below -10 and large amounts of water is sinking into the frozen subgrade where it freezes into crystals. What's also causing a lot of damage is the thaw weakening during Chinooks/spring due to so much water trapped in the subgrade that it weakens and sinks. In the old days the city more or less graveled and plowed which left roads drier when it was cold and not nearly as much snow melted and drained under the roads as it does today where the roads are almost always wet in the winter.

Bottom line is the city has to either reduce the chemical usage or have contractors adhere to better road paving standards (never going to happen in Calgary where road construction is a cash grab).

[SCHIDER23]

About those saying Edmonton is bad, last year we did a road trip east and the worst part of the trip was Winnipeg pretty bad roads everywhere not sections, the whole damn city is bad. Anyway another bad one is 162 ave se going up hill to evergreen/bridlewood some bad ones on that stretch.

[bart]

frost is not the problem ;)

http://youtu.be/Wnz-igxlEH4?t=35m55s

[speedog]

RH lane of NB Deerfoot right over the railroad tunnel (just noth of Memorial) - big enough dip to bottom out my front suspension.

[Modelexis]

Without government who will build the roads though?
:D

[hurrdurr]

Not sure if frost heave or poor infrastructure but on blackfoot SB between Glenmore and Heritage the road is a fucking coaster, easy to bottom out if you're going too fast and/or you're too low

[sh0ko]

Highway 8/.. between 69th street sw and it turning onto sarcee trail/glenmore trail.....about halfway east bound...in the middle of both the right and left lane.. there is a MASSIVE dip/crack/hole in the center of the lanes about 4-5 feet wide perpendicular to the traffic lines


this was stated few pages before but since its the same road:
near the end of this road on the left lane closer to sarcee..there is a REALLY massive bump on the left lane... it will cause you to go airborne so careful.

just stay in the right and hug the shoulder or even go over the lines a bit and you should be fine

gluck!

[rage2]

http://www.calgaryherald.com/Here+frost+heaves+make+driving+some+Calgary+roads+like+rollercoaster+ride/9691479/story.html

Nice quote lol.

[pheoxs]

“I think it’d be easier to make a list of roads that aren’t f---ed,” cursed user Modelexis.

Lol

[K3RMiTdot]

crowchild...

[speedog]

The City has no idea how much frost heaves cost us, but it’s all addressed in the nearly $85-million per year municipal road maintenance budget.
Well the CoC must've missed addressing McKnight Boulevard between 12th and 19th Streets NE for many years because it's been bad for years now. Same thing goes for John Laurie at Brisbois Drive - don't recall the city ever ripping up and redoing that section of John Laurie.

[schocker]

Originally posted by speedog
Same thing goes for John Laurie at Brisbois Drive - don't recall the city ever ripping up and redoing that section of John Laurie.
I think I do but it was a long time ago. Looks like it is time again as everyone slows to 30 now on the way up the hill between brisebois and 19th street.

[jwslam]

Originally posted by schocker

I think I do but it was a long time ago. Looks like it is time again as everyone slows to 30 now on the way up the hill between brisebois and 19th street.
Don't see a difference from the way it was before frost heaves :dunno:

Seems like 90% of drivers on that section don't know that you can't realize you just dropped from 80-50 halfway up the hill and expect your zero-torque car to accelerate when you're halfway up that 60 deg incline; and the guy who's merging doesn't understand this either so you have people who have to brake like mad to let the guy come in at 30kph

Calgary drivers :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[firebane]

Originally posted by speedog

Well the CoC must've missed addressing McKnight Boulevard between 12th and 19th Streets NE for many years because it's been bad for years now. Same thing goes for John Laurie at Brisbois Drive - don't recall the city ever ripping up and redoing that section of John Laurie.

The biggest issue with roads in Alberta is that they hardly ever rip down to the gravel to fix them. They come along and just blacktop over the problem that exists but this never actually fixes the problem.

In BC if there is a problem with the road it gets torn right down to the bed and redone.

[jwslam]

Originally posted by firebane
In BC if there is a problem with the road it gets torn right down to the bed and redone.
Our guys are too busy painting bike lanes :rofl:
http://i1213.photobucket.com/albums/cc475/rage2amg/null_zps27da7da0.jpg

[pheoxs]

Drove barlow again today around 16 ave NE ... holy fawk it's getting even worse.

[DeleriousZ]

Lots of raised manholes along glenmore east between 52nd and stony.

Peigan is bad between 26th and 36th as mentioned above.

[ExtremeSi]

I'm just glad that I don't drive a slammed car anymore. I don't remember the roads ever being this bad.

[pheoxs]

Originally posted by ExtremeSi
I'm just glad that I don't drive a slammed car anymore. I don't remember the roads ever being this bad.

It's making me think more and more I should do a project truck instead

[bignerd]

Shockingly, someone actually got back to me from the Ministry of Transportation... since they are responsible for Stony which is a provincial road.

Basically yes they know about the giant frost heave between Metis and Deerfoot exit on Stony. These things "usually" improve with the weather when the ground thaws (??? I am personally not so sure about this, the road is going to level back out when it gets warm again...?) and if it does not, then yes they will repair it.

So basically nothing will happen and the road will stay the way it is.

[cyra1ax]

It's not a frost heave, but there's one MASSIVE dip and another one developing at the ends of the overpass on Shaganappi SB over Stoney Trail. Just really bad infrastructure I think.

[EF9 Sedan]

Originally posted by speedog
RH lane of NB Deerfoot right over the railroad tunnel (just noth of Memorial) - big enough dip to bottom out my front suspension.

Are you talking about Barlow? I think that dip has been there for a while. I have to change into the right lane otherwise its a pretty big dip and jump. Its been a really long time... I'm surprised they haven't fixed it.

[120Comm]

Originally posted by bignerd
Shockingly, someone actually got back to me from the Ministry of Transportation... since they are responsible for Stony which is a provincial road.

Basically yes they know about the giant frost heave between Metis and Deerfoot exit on Stony. These things "usually" improve with the weather when the ground thaws (??? I am personally not so sure about this, the road is going to level back out when it gets warm again...?) and if it does not, then yes they will repair it.

So basically nothing will happen and the road will stay the way it is.

They might be aware of it, but they don't know about it, based on what they've told you above. The road might settle back into place when the ground thaws - if the ground heaves the pavement upwards. In other words if the ice in the ground melts and lets everything settle back into position. I know of one that comes and goes every year on the West Bragg Creek road that does exactly this, even after they tore up and repaved last year.

But the problem on Stoney by Métis is not a frost heave like that.. it's a huge dip. Like I said before, it's like a huge culvert collapsed under the road or an underground stream caved in. It won't get better when everything warms up.

I'm sure they are "aware" of it. They might even have plans to investigate it further when the ground thaws. But if they plan to rely on letting nature smooth itself out in that area, we're all in for a big disappointment.

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by cyra1ax
It's not a frost heave, but there's one MASSIVE dip and another one developing at the ends of the overpass on Shaganappi SB over Stoney Trail. Just really bad infrastructure I think.

First one isn't too bad.

Second one's the worst. Don't want to hit that at any more than 50 km/h.

[ColoDano]

This thread was mentioned on the back page of Swerve magazine in the Calgary Herald today, awesome!

[speedog]

Originally posted by EF9 Sedan


Are you talking about Barlow? I think that dip has been there for a while. I have to change into the right lane otherwise its a pretty big dip and jump. Its been a really long time... I'm surprised they haven't fixed it.
Nope. Not Barlow. NB right hand lane just east of the Herald building where the CPR tunnel is under Deerfoot. - Google Streetview link (http://goo.gl/maps/L5Vny).

Dip could be a bit further south but never the less, it is in that area.

[Xtrema]

I hit huge pot hole on SB center @ 12ave last week.

West bound McKnight around the McCall lake/runway, stay off the right lane.

Barlow NB after 16th ave has warning sign on uneven pavement.

SB Shag after John Laurie started to get bad just like every year.

[chongkee_]

Originally posted by Xtrema


West bound McKnight around the McCall lake/runway, stay off the right lane.


I pick the right lane every time. Left lane has much worse frost heaves. Pot holes I could avoid but not those roller coaster tracks:rofl:

[MGCM]

Originally posted by ColoDano
This thread was mentioned on the back page of Swerve magazine in the Calgary Herald today, awesome!

crap lol im slackin, i better get on it now!

[Sugarphreak]

...

[SkiBum5.0]

Anyone mention the massive crater (no broken pavement) on westbound 17th Ave before Richmond road? Saw a late 90's Grand Prix hit it and rip the rocker panel right off

[CelicaST-162]

With the 4Runner having larger tires, raised suspension with extended travel. I always speed up when there's little traffic and pretend I'm in a pre-runner desert race! Haha. It's really cool watching the suspension cycling up and down rapidly!

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by bignerd
Basically yes they know about the giant frost heave between Metis and Deerfoot exit on Stony. These things "usually" improve with the weather when the ground thaws (??? I am personally not so sure about this, the road is going to level back out when it gets warm again...?) and if it does not, then yes they will repair it.


I drove there this afternoon and it has improved significantly since last week.

[heavyD]

Originally posted by speedog

Well the CoC must've missed addressing McKnight Boulevard between 12th and 19th Streets NE for many years because it's been bad for years now. Same thing goes for John Laurie at Brisbois Drive - don't recall the city ever ripping up and redoing that section of John Laurie.

The city has never ripped up the problem area on John Laurie. NEVER. It wasn't as big an issue until they fully repaved the road four years ago. Since the re-pave it's been much worse than it ever was. It all goes back to shoddy road construction as they knew that was a problem area and didn't do anything about it but roll out new asphalt over it and since they did a worse job than the pavers before them the issue is far worse today. If the city ensured the road construction companies are doing proper work they wouldn't have to spend money later fixing it but at the end of the day you get what your pay for and the city is partially to blame for not having contractors pay attention to problem areas prior to paving.

[heavyD]

Originally posted by firebane


The biggest issue with roads in Alberta is that they hardly ever rip down to the gravel to fix them. They come along and just blacktop over the problem that exists but this never actually fixes the problem.

In BC if there is a problem with the road it gets torn right down to the bed and redone.

Bingo. Just as I said in my last post the city either isn't doing a good enough job getting contractors fix the issues or they simply don't want to pay to do it right.

[speedog]

Originally posted by heavyD
The city has never ripped up the problem area on John Laurie. NEVER. It wasn't as big an issue until they fully repaved the road four years ago. Since the re-pave it's been much worse than it ever was. It all goes back to shoddy road construction as they knew that was a problem area and didn't do anything about it but roll out new asphalt over it and since they did a worse job than the pavers before them the issue is far worse today. If the city ensured the road construction companies are doing proper work they wouldn't have to spend money later fixing it but at the end of the day you get what your pay for and the city is partially to blame for not having contractors pay attention to problem areas prior to paving.

\Well, one certainly should have their wits about them in this section of McKnight what with people slamming on their brakes to slow down for the heaves or dodging about in their lane to miss potholes or even suddenly changing lanes to what they perceive to be a smoother ride.

My experience is neither lane is really better over the whole distance between 19th and 12th Streets NE. Both WB lanes heave pretty good between 19th and the runway, the right lane becomes worse near the viewing area turn-off while the left lane has some pretty good heaves before that. Then the left lane has a whole assortment of potholes right in the intersection of 12th Street that one needs to maneuver around and yeah, I'm probably missing more crud in the 7 block WB section.

One thing is for sure - don't drop a wheel much over the yellow line in the WB left lane west of the viewing area turn-off because that could very well damage your vehicle. The EB lanes are better, much better but it's still a roller coaster ride east of the runway.

Realistically, this 7 block section just needs to be fixed - it will tame down a bit once the frost is out of the ground but it has been getting progressively worse every year.

[bignerd]

Was lol-ing today on the drive home...

Stony west bound between Metis and Deerfoot , they now have new orange signs that actually say "Reduce speed ahead, Frost Heave" or something similar to that. These have replaced the "bump ahead" signs.

So they must be aware how bad it is... hope that means they plan to fix it and not just leave the signs up.