Pack your patience over the Thanksgiving long weekend as there’s expected to be significant construction along a popular CTrain route.
Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC), who’s part of the project, said construction is about to ramp up for the extension at the 17 Avenue CTrain station along with the rebuild of the Victoria Park/Stampede CTrain station.
This means traffic near the area on Macleod Trail and around Stampede Park is likely to become jammed at certain points of the day. It also means cyclists along with foot traffic will be detoured.
With the Calgary Flames closing out its pre-season on Friday against the Winnipeg Jets, fans are being told to give themselves extra time to get to the Saddledome.
Starting Thursday at 7 p.m., the Macleod Trail pedestrian crossing at 17 Avenue S.E. will be closed, according to CMLC. Pedestrians will be able to access the station and Stampede Park from the 14 Avenue crossing.
From Friday through to the holiday Monday, both the 17 Avenue and 14 Avenue Macleod Trail crossings will be closed, and pedestrians and cyclists will then be detoured to 12 Avenue S.E. or 25 Avenue S.E. to access Stampede Park and events at the Saddledome.
In a news release, CMLC said northbound Macleod Trail will have additional lane closures between the Elbow River Bridge and 12 Avenue SE from Thursday at 7 p.m. until the following Tuesday at 5 a.m. For the majority of the weekend, one northbound lane will remain open.
If attending the Stampede grounds, motorists are asked to enter through 25 Avenue S.E. or use alternate routes if possible.
Several CTrain stations will also be closed over the long weekend to allow for routine maintenance activities at various stations along with major work on the Victoria Park/Stampede Station project, CMLC said.
From Friday at 2 a.m. to Saturday at 2 a.m., the Red Line will have station closures between City Hall and 39 Avenue S. That stretch includes the Victoria Park/Stampede and Erlton/Stampede stations.
That 24-hour closure is primarily for the 17 Avenue S.E. project, and other projects as time allows.
And from Saturday at 2 a.m. until Tuesday just before 4 a.m., stations along the Red and Blue lines will be closed along 7 Avenue S through downtown.
The downtown closure over the long weekend is for the 17 Avenue S.E. project, utility relocation for the Green Line, Enmax manhole replacement, Canadian Pacific tunnel cleaning and other projects as time allows.
Shuttle buses will run between the stations to move transit riders along the lines.
An online map that will be updated with real-time traffic and pedestrian access updates can be found on the CMLC website.
–with files from Adam Toy, Global News