Deerfoot Trail study: release of long-term recommendations postponed

What could be done to make Deerfoot Trail safer, more reliable and more efficient?

The City of Calgary had planned to reveal the final recommendations from a study of Deerfoot Trail at a news conference on Wednesday morning, but cancelled the event shortly before it was set to begin.

In a news release, the city said the news conference had been “postponed until further notice“ due to “unforeseen circumstances.”

The study, a joint venture between the city and Alberta Transportation, was launched in 2016 with the aim of improving Calgary’s busiest roadway.

In 2017, the city released five recommendations for short-term improvement.

Deerfoot Trail is Calgary’s oldest freeway and one of the busiest in Alberta.

The majority of Deerfoot Trail was built between 1971 and 1982.

The city’s population has doubled since 1981 and the City of Calgary says the aging infrastructure is no longer meeting current traffic demand, resulting in congestion, unreliability and safety concerns.

According to the city, the average daily traffic ranges from 83,000 vehicles per day at the south end to 170,000 vehicles per day north of Memorial Drive.

For more information please visit calgary.ca/Deerfoot.