We will be living in far NW for h's job. Think Crowchild mall area.

I am fishing around for jobs and will apply as soon as we have a date to get there. So I am short-listing companies etc and wanted to ask about commutes from far nw- I can suss out the downtown commutes easily as I would use public transport but its the other ones I am having difficulties with.

In particular

Far NW to Riverbend (T2C). This is across calgary by going down crowchild, then glenmore and across- so avoiding downtown totally , and sometimes going against flow. This is 16 miles on mapquest and it says 27 minutes. What would it be in reality at commuting hours? Is it a goer? Would want commute to be on a normal day less than 45 mins.

Also
far NW to just slightly north of Deerfoot mall

This is down as 10.5 miles and 23 mins. What do you think the reality would be here?

Gryph

This potentially could be a nightmare. If all the stars were aligned in your favour, in off peak hours, it would be half an hour, as Map Quest states. In rush hour, it easily could be an hour. On a snowy day in rush hour, it easily could be one and a half hours.

Sometimes is the operative word. Eastbound Glenmore, over the Glenmore Reservoir, is an incredible bottleneck during morning rush hour. They presently are widening Glenmore Trail. I expect the wider version of Glenmore Trail will help in the long run. But the current construction adds to delays.

You could avoid Glenmore Trail by using John Laurie Blvd and McKnight Blvd to get to Deerfoot Trail, but Deerfoot Trail also is a nightmare during rush hour, all the more so on a snowy day.

The only good thing that can be said about Riverbend is that you would be able to exit Glenmore Trail before Foothills Industrial Park. Glenmore Trail into Foothills Industrial Park is extremely congested in the morning rush hour. Similarly, the traffic exiting FIP during late afternoon / early evening rush hour is congested.

If you were working part-time, I'm guessing that at least one of your journeys, either to work or from work, would take place during off peak hours. That would help the cause.

In 2005, I did a lot of work for a company that had two locations, one in Foothills Industrial Park and one in Airdrie. I know what I'm talking about when it comes to the Glenmore Trail entrance to FIP and Deerfoot Trail, which I used to reach Airdrie.

I don't live in the NW, and I don't have personal experience of John Laurie Blvd during rush hour. I have some experience of McKnight Blvd at various times of the day, because it's one of the routes to/from the airport. It's fairly busy during rush hour. Still, all in all, I suspect this location would be INFINITELY better for you than Riverbend.

Gryph - I'm not commuting so don't know if I can help at all ! But here's my thoughts on 6 weeks of driving round here ...

It's hugely variable !!

Took C-train from Dalhousie to Stampede yesterday afternoon - slow, hot and packed - (tea-time rush hour) - 47 minutes.
Got C-train back again later in evening - fast, cool and relatively empty - 27 minutes.

Drive from Cochrane to downtown for 0830 start - 40 minutes - so maybe take off at least 10-15 minutes for you.

Drive from Cochrane to Deerfoot Mall (Ikea of course) or back again - anywhere from 35 to 50 minutes depending on time of day.

Drive from anywhere to anywhere - I find the driving and traffic generally not too back - compared to SE England - and it's all the roadworks and construction that seem to cause the hold ups, not the actual volume of traffic (in most places, Deerfoot excepted). The Crowchild/Nosehill junction can be truly awful at the moment, but can also be pretty clear - but even when it's at it's worst, it's still only a ten minute delay. Already, I can't wait for this one to be completed.

On the whole, accept a 45 minute commute is likely, allow an hour, and you might arrive in 30 mins on some days. And I haven't budgeted for that white slippy stuff yet, either.

So - no help whatsoever ....

Oops, a correction. For the place that's close to Deerfoot Mall, I don't think you'd need to use McKnight Blvd as I'd previously stated. I'm pretty sure you'd use 64th Avenue NE. That would be even better.

Thanks Judy- I sort of suspected it might be, which is why I asked. I shall put that company to the bottom of the pile and only apply if desparate!

I would plan to work full days- just less of them (2 1/2 to 3, or ideally 3 in th term and 2 in the holidays)- so rush hour traffic is still relevant to me!

So it seems unpredicatable! Like lots of things in Calgary (except maybe the bugs!- how are you coping on that front? I haven't heard any wingeing so it must be OK?)

We used to live in Arbour Lake (Crowfoot Mall) and when I was working I used to do so across town, just off 32nd. So I used to go north on Nosehill and then east on Country Hills Blvd. At the time of day I travelled (leaving home at 9.00am) this flowed pretty smoothly. The few sticking points were the lights at Sarcee and then again at Shaganappi. After the Shaganappi intersection the speed limit increases to 80K. I used to leave Country Hills Blvd at Beddington trail as this would take you directly to Deerfoot. If you actually need to get to the Outlet Mall then you would take the next exit (64th). I had to continue to 32nd. The journey could take anything from 20mins to 30 mins, depending upon the number of red lights I hit, the number of idiots on Deerfoot and of course the weather.

There is currently construction work ongoing at the junction with Country Hills and Shaganappi, I believe some sort of storm drainage system and possibly road widening to deal with the Sherwood community. (I am sure someone will correct me on this if I am wrong).

There is of course also the stoney trail expansion. This road is to be the main bypass east to west (west to east). From communities north of Crowfoot it is very easy to access. The road should contain no traffic lights when it is eventually open and will take you to Deerfoot and beyond.

Of course Country Hills could very well be experiencing more traffic as a results of the work ongoing at Nosehill and Crowchild. The bridge is not due to open until next year and hence traffic is very conjested with the temporary roads and lights in place. On the few occasions when we have been back and had to go this way it takes noticably longer than before (we left in November) and is busy at almost all times of the day. The centennial C-train is not due to open until 2008.

I am afraid I cannot help with the Riverbend area, although if you wanted to leave the Crowfoot area at rush hour, I would strongly suggest avoiding Nosehill and Crowchild.

What community in the NW would you be looking at? (If you have mentioned this I do apologise and can only blame my memory shortages on the 3 screaming terrors I have in my household at present)

Hope this has been of some help.

Nikki




Of course reading back I am not sure whether you mean the Deerfoot outlet mall just of 64th, or the Deerfoot Crossings Mall where the IKEA is located. If it is the Ikea Mall than you will need to go much further south on Deerfoot than the 32nd exit and this will definately increase your commute time. If it is the Deerfoot Outlet Mall then you can also access this by taking John Laurie Blvd to McKnight and then turn left at the Wendy's/Tim Hortons (sorry can't remember the exact road, I am very good at navigating by pubs, tim hortons and other notable buildings). This route however can also get very congested, especially around the John Laurie/Shaganappi intersection, McKnight/Edmonton Trail intersection and McKnight/Deerfoot exit/entrance. Just as a note John Laurie turns into McKnight Blvd at 14th St NW. The way home would depend greatly upon the time of day I left work, and traffic reports about Deerfoot. On most occasions rather than go north on Deerfoot and then Beddington to COuntry Hills I would actually take the 32nd connector route to Edmonton Trail, across to Centre street and then across on 40th Ave to 1st St NW. North on this to Mcknight and then west to John Laurie. I would be leaving work at about 3.30/4pm so would hit the school traffic and still make it home within 30 minutes.

Thanks very much for this

All in all it looks like this is an option for commuting! I can put up with a bit of roadworks traffic for the temporary

Gryph

Thanks