That freeway once planned for downtown Calgary (with a name that hasn't aged particularly well)
CBC
You've probably had those moments, when idling nine cars behind a red light in rush-hour downtown Calgary, when you wished there was a smoother way into the core.
What if there was an eight-lane expressway, slicing right through?
What if it levelled most of Eau Claire and Chinatown?
And what if it had a terrible-sounding name?
Welcome to the mostly forgotten history of Calgary's "downtown penetrator." It's the subject of the latest edition of CBC's This is Calgary podcast, hosted by Anis Heydari.
This chapter of could-have-been lore comes to us from the 1960s, that age of big cars, big freeway projects and big-time awkward transportation planning jargon.
The city was growing rapidly, sprouting into new suburbs like Braeside, Brentwood, Mayland Heights and Westgate. Thousands more Skylarks, Mustangs and Oldsmobiles were racing to get downtown to work in the highrise offices of Calgary's budding oilpatch.
One city report, typical of the age, observed: "Inasmuch as many of the existing penetration routes into the downtown area are already operating at full-capacity conditions, significant improvements or additions to these routes will have to be made if predicted increases in vehicular flow are to be accommodated."
And here's that term again: "By employing these distribution facilities, trip-makers will be able to travel with a minimum of delay to the downtown penetration point closest to their ultimate downtown destination…."
The idea of a highway to, uh, penetrate downtown first came in the early 1960s, when Canadian Pacific Railways pitched moving its main train track away from Ninth Avenue along the south end of downtown, and relocating it to the Bow River's south shore.
Because, at the time, it was an unsightly former industrial zone, unused and unloved. At least riverside train tracks would put the river banks to good use, the argument went.
And why not throw in a downtown freeway?
A group called the Local Council of Women fought back against the project and in favour of riverside beautification. So did Councillor Jack Leslie on the male-dominated city council.
The city rejected CP Rail's bid in 1964. Leslie became mayor, and would create the river pathway system we cherish today.
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