Construction begins on Greenline Southeast Transitway

It currently takes about an hour to drive from the deep south neighbourhood of Seton to the edge of Calgary’s downtown.

The city is trying to shave down that drive time, starting with improvements to Barlow Trail and 114 Avenue S.E..

It’s the first intersection up for redesign as part of the city’s Greenline Southeast Transitway.

Adding a second left northbound turn lane and lengthening the right eastbound turn lane is expected to speed up traffic for bus route 302 and for other motorists.

The city says the changes could reduce overall delays by up to 16 per cent during the morning peak period – which works out to about a minute per driver.

It will cost $150,000 to be installed.

Additional initiatives planned for construction in 2015 include:

• Widening 52 Street S.E. between 130 Avenue and Stoney Trail from four to six lanes to implement transit-only lanes
• Relocating bus routes off Deerfoot Trail to access 114 Avenue S.E. using 40 Street S.E., plus adding a half-kilometre of new roadway
• Widening 130 Avenue S.E. between 48 Street and 52 Street from four to six lanes to implement transit-only lanes
• Construct transit queue jumps and re-prioritize signals and install signals at various locations.

It’s all in an effort to make way for Calgary’s first dedicated transitway.

Buses along the Greenline will operate similarly to the ultimate LRT. Infrastructure for the LRT will be pre-built in the initial construction.

Construction on the first leg of the transit thoroughfare will be 4 Street S.E.. It measures 13 kilometres in length and construction will start in the next seven years.

Construction along the second phase will take much longer.

“The south part of the transitway, which would be Douglas Glen down to Seton is in the 30 year time frame according to Calgary Transit’s Route Ahead plan. However, we are continuing to look at where we can make improvements to the [Bus Rapid Transit] route today to improve the customer experience,” says Fabiola MacIntyre, project manager with the City of Calgary.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The south part of the transitway, which would be Douglas Glen down to Seton is in the 30 year time frame according to Calgary Transit's Route Ahead plan. However, we are continuing to look at where we can make improvements to the [Bus Rapid Transit] route today to improve the customer experience," says Fabiola MacIntyre, project manager with the City of Calgary.

The entire Greenline Southeast Transitway is 26 kilometres.