I've noticed alot of new changes to how construction zones are setup in Calgary, maybe its because I just moved back to the city last year, maybe they are real changes that happened recently, but everyday I drive through them and notice all of these annoyances:
1. Construction zone speed limits set before construction even starts. The best example I noticed was the recent construction zone on Marquis of Lorne Trail SE. They changed the speed limit from 80 to 60 and dropped construction signs 2-3 weeks before there was even any equipment nearby. Seems like a bureaucratic law/policy is forcing construction companies to drop these signs in advance, it's a huge waste of time for everyone driving that road.
2. Construction zones in effect for a much longer distance than the actual distance in construction. The Deerfoot near Douglasdale is a perfect example, the zone starts much earlier and lasts much longer than where the actual construction is taking place. The biggest peeve for me is that NO Calgarians take these seriously, I've been habitualized to always do the construction speed limit, so I always get passed by many motorists in this construction zone. I think doing 70 where others are doing 100+ is dangerous, I avoid the left and center lanes cuz people will fly up behind me here. Traffic cops could rake it in here, but I don't think they take it seriously either. I also feel that the reason behind this extended speed limit zone is a bureaucratic one, because it appears that instead of just moving the construction zone when they work somewhere else, that they just put the whole section that they plan to work on under construction.
3. There are never "end of construction zone" or resume speed signs at the end of the construction zones. A good example is the now-complete construction zone at the intersection of 24th St SW and Anderson from last year: the construction zone speed limit was 50, once you leave the construction zone, there were no signs saying to resume speed or that the construction zone ended, so if you followed the signs, you would continue to do 50 (in a 80 zone) until you finally hit a 80 sign....which is WAY down the road.
4. Signs are placed in a bad order. Again, on Marquis of Lorne, you enter the construction zone, then way down the road there is a sign saying "Construction Ahead"....but we're already in a construction zone.....
I've also seen on a couple occasions two consecutive "End of Construction" zone signs. The second one isn't logical because a second construction zone was never started. When I see the second "End of Construction" sign, I always fear that I drove through an entire construction zone without even noticing it or changing my speed.
The bottom line is that they are wasting people's time by not making people drive slower than they actually could be AND without risking any construction worker's safety. And construction companies don't really seem to give a shit about signage, they make mistakes and neglect their signs.
End Rant, feels good to get that out. And a last note to everyone: Do the damn construction zone speed limit and don't tailgate me when I'm doing the limit. I speed like alot of people, just not in construction zones.