Starting Monday morning, drivers will be able to access Calgary’s Inglewood neighbourhood more easily, with traffic flowing in both directions on a Memorial Drive ramp.
The stretch of road lies near the Calgary Zoo, between the Baines Bridge and 12th Street Northeast. Before Monday, traffic on the ramp was only able to go west to east.
The change will allow drivers to access Inglewood directly from both sides of Memorial Drive, as well as Bridgeland.
Ward 9 City Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra said the decision to add a second direction of traffic came from a larger conversation about accessibility in the area.
“We realized how important this piece of network connectivity was and how interrupted it was for the fact that, in the past, they made the decision to just make it a one-way connection on to Memorial Drive,” Carra said.
“We’ll be connecting the city and these neighbourhoods in a much better way.”
City crews put the finishing touches on the ramp during the weekend. Once everything is complete, officials expect businesses in the area to see an increase in customers.
“People in either community can get to the other community with great ease… and enjoy all the businesses in those respective main streets,” said Rebecca O’Brien, the Inglewood Business Improvement Area executive director, about the improved connection between Bridgeland and Inglewood.