With the recent news of the failed referendum on the southwest extension of Stoney Trail, the discussion of completing Calgary's ring road -- at least that part of the discussion not given over to dark, conspiratorial mutterings -- is turning to potential options for Plan B, involving some sort of grade-separated expressway link across the Elbow River through the Weaselhead Flats and the Glenmore Reservoir. The illustration below hints at the scope of the problem:
This is what a partial cloverleaf interchange at 66 Avenue SW and a southward extension of Crowchild Trail would look like. I leave it as an exercise for my Gentle Readers to compute the chances for the poor souls at ABDoT and the City of Calgary to convince sixty-odd residential landholders in the leafy, bucolic suburban environment of Lakeview, along with the owners of the Earl Grey Golf and Country Club, that a thousand metres of newly-planned expressway would be just the ticket to serve the greater good and to ensure the safe and efficient movement of freight traffic throughout the city.
