Identified three possible routes:
Route 1: Connects to existing Sommerset-Bridlewood Station
This route crosses some water, then Spruce Meadow Trail and then runs
between Spruce Meadow Trail and Sheriff King Road SE. This route parallels
MacLeod Trail (2A) (on the west side of the trail) until the 2A and the 2
merge and then follows the 2 until it diverges into the 2 and 2A again. At
this point the route continues along the west side of the 2A (Northridge
Dr) until it reaches the decided TOD area in Okotoks.
Considerations:
Crossing water at the start of the route
Crossing Spruce Meadow Trail
Crossing several smaller roads
Alternate to Route 1: Parallels the existing freight rail line under
Spruce Meadow Trail and then crosses those tracks once past the water body
(south of Spruce Meadow and west of MacLeod Trail) to head over to MacLeod
Trail and then duplicates Route 1.
Considerations of Alternate:
Crosses water
Crosses other tracks
Possible reworking of bridge at Spruce Meadows
Route 2: Connects to future South Calgary Health Centre (SCHC)
Leaves the SCHC and heads west to Deerfoot (2), bridge over the east lane
to land in between the two lanes. Heads south , crossing the river where
the highway does. Crosses under Dunbow Road (242 Ave). Crosses the east
lane of MacLeod Trail (at the intersection of 2A / 2) and continues with
Highway 2 southeast. Bridge from between the two lanes to the east side of
the interchange between 2 / 2A / 552 to head south to Okotoks much the
same way as Route 1.
Considerations:
Bridge from SCHC to middle of Deerfoot
Bridge across river
Crossing east lane of MacLeod (2A)
Bridge from between lanes of Highway 2 to west of Highway 2 / 2A / 552
interchange
Alternate to Route 2: Runs just east of, and parallel to, Highway 2.
Crosses over Highway 2 just north of the Highway 2 / 2A / 552 interchange
and runs just west of, and parallel to, Highway 2A south to Okotoks.
Considerations of Alternate:
Crosses river
Intersection with Dunbow Road / 242 Ave
Crossing Highway 2 north of Highway 2 / 2A / 552 interchange
All the water crossings pose environmental risks and all the road crossings are financial risks. As the routes don t stray too far from the existing roads / highways there shouldn t be any loss of arable land, but that would be another factor.
Selecting Routes- Option for choosing routes
Raster map in which each square = score for that area
For this method a grid is applied to the area to be considered. The group
must determine the density of the grid. It could be as simple as 1 km x 1
km or much more complex at 10 m x 10m (I feel any smaller would be to
complicated). The simplest way to score the route is to give the grid
square one point for each criterion below. The group can then visualize a
path given the areas with the lowest scores.
Transport Efficiency
o Proximity to existing road / highway
o Traffic density
o *Terrain
o *Soils
o *Proximity to an existing road
Ecology
o Protected Areas (federal)
o Protected Areas (provincial)
o Forests / Natural areas not protected
o Wetlands / Marshes / Swamps
o Watercourses / Lakes
o *Endangered species
o *Vegetation
Social Impact
o Proximity to urban areas
o Risk of accidents
o Population served
o Hazardous areas
o *Connectivity
o *Recreational Areas
Economic costs / benefits
o Agricultural land use lost
o Economic activity lost
o *Negative effect on economic development
o Agricultural suitable soils lost
o Intersections with roads
o Problems for construction
o Structures
o *Cost distance
Weighting the Criteria
The exercise can be more detailed by weighting the criteria. I have
identified two ways to do this. One is to weight the criterion in relation
to each other this is subject to the group members opinion and thus
could be quite time consuming to sort out.
The other way to score the groups would be based on themes (groups of
criteria). In this scenario all the criteria that meet a theme are
weighted more significantly than the others (e.g. all that relate to
environment would be rated 2 rather than 1). I believe that we could use
this method to develop the two routes one could be the Environmental
Route and the other could be the Economic Route for instance.
Of course to select a route a start and end point will be needed the end
of the current LRT is one obvious choice then there are the CP rail
routes in the area. Since Okotoks doesn t have a point to consider yet we
will have to decide that.
