Traffic circle at Valley and Cross in Glenmore

[Grandan]

The residents of the Valley Road Sexsmith corridor have a new scene on the road, endless traffic. With the closure of Cross Road drivers are detoured through Valley Road N and Sexsmith to reach Hwy 97. Valley Road is not a truck route but the brainiacs at city hall figured that it would be a good time to start. Traffic is now almost continuous, the roar never seems to end.
Add the usual buddy in his jacked up truck with loud exhaust, Mr pretend biker on his loud bike and the plethora of gravel trucks thundering through and you have the perfect "we ruined your summer don't you just love us" from city hall.
All of this could have been avoided had the planners done what was in the 1994 OCP, build John Hindle Drive by 2013.
For reasons known only to the brainiacs, John Hindle Dr was removed from the OCP and stayed off until the 2011 review and it then came back. It was missed opportunity. UBCO should never have been built without this road in place. If in the next year or so, should there be any reason to evacuate UBCO and Hwy 97 is in it's usual congested state there will be serious problems.
They dropped the ball. This situation should never have been allowed to reach the dangerous situation that it is in now.
To increase the irony, the Valley Road N Sexmith community is not within the Permanent Growth Boundary so it should not be experiencing growth but regardless, growth has been thrown at us. What in blazes is going on with the planning department?
My theory is that Planning put N Glenmore on full ignore while they cosied up to the delelopers in the Mission. How else do you explain the lack of sidewalks anywhere along the Valley Rd N Sexsmith corridorwhile at the same time we see sidewalks on both sides of the road plus a seperate mutimodal pathway but in the Mission and of course downtown.
Millions have been collected though DCC but none of this money was spent improving Valley Rd N or Sexsmith, it all went downtown or out to the Mission. Wait a minute, the roundabout at Cross is being built with DCC's, what great timing, NOT!

[GordonH]

Once that traffic circle is finished at Valley Rd & Cross. Unfortunately large trucks (Semi's) can't use them due to how small radius is, so those big trucks will need to continue until new route is available.

[drex1999]

Semis can do the roundabouts just fine. Look closely at them. Painted to appear a tight radius but mostly flat. Semis, dump truck and pups and large cement trucks roll both small circles at UBCO. Ask yourself how the transit buses navigate the roundabouts downtown with their "tight radius" optical illusion

[GordonH]

Semis can do the roundabouts just fine. Look closely at them. Painted to appear a tight radius but mostly flat. Semis, dump truck and pups and large cement trucks roll both small circles at UBCO. Ask yourself how the transit buses navigate the roundabouts downtown with their "tight radius" optical illusion

Full size 18 wheelers are longer then any city buses that are in Kelowna, plus couple years ago one had hell of a time at traffic circle at Burtch & Byrns

[lightspeed]

Full size 18 wheelers are longer then any city buses that are in Kelowna, plus couple years ago one had hell of a time at traffic circle at Burtch & Byrns

At least someone knows something about large vehicles bigger than a long saloon car or large pickup with lift kit and 20 LED's.

OP has my sympathy.

[GordonH]

Took a look at drawings of John Hindle Dr, unless the city makes changes to it before construction. It also has traffic circle, which rules it out for 18 wheeler traffic.

[Grandan]

Once that traffic circle is finished at Valley Rd & Cross. Unfortunately large trucks (Semi's) can't use them due to how small radius is, so those big trucks will need to continue until new route is available.

I am astonished at how many Semi's are using the Valley Road N Sexsmith corridor even before construction was started, well, it's been going on for at least a decade. Despite the fact that Valley Road is closed to truck traffic, (except for a short section north of Sexsmith) and drivers know that the likelihood of being nabbed for being off truck route is slim to none. Really it is an honor system that few drivers are conscientious enough to adhere to.

[lightspeed]

I am astonished at how many Semi's are using the Valley Road N Sexsmith corridor even before construction was started, well, it's been going on for at least a decade. Despite the fact that Valley Road is closed to truck traffic, (except for a short section north of Sexsmith) and drivers know that the likelihood of being nabbed for being off truck route is slim to none. Really it is an honor system that few drivers are conscientious enough to adhere to.

A "professional" driver wouldn't use a non-truck route.

We're talking about rookies with a commercial licence. Amateurs. Fails.

[LTD]

valley road is a truck route from 7 am to 11 pm its on the city of Kelowna truck route map have a look

[LTD]

upon closer inspection its only valley road north that's a truck route

[Grandan]

upon closer inspection its only valley road north that's a truck route

As I was saying. The drivers are from ALL the major concrete suppliers, without naming names. The drivers are from the big box lumber suppliers, drywall suppliers, you name it. It is not just once and a while it is every day and all day long, same drivers same companies and they look seasoned to me. Crane services? dozens of names. All should know better. It is the reason that development gets a bad name. It is the drivers who are the spokesmen for the company when they are on the road, essentially travelling billboards. I know drivers are under a tight schedule but breaking the law should not be a requirement to meet that schedule.
Unfortunately a message was delivered to me by a spokesperson for the city by telephone that they do not have time to do truck stops in our neighbourhood, they have better, more important things to do. Before the entire traffic population from Glenmore to Hwy 97 was diverted through here we had up to 100 trucks a day off truck route and nothing was ever done about it. Apparently it is too dangerous to stop trucks running through here!
Now, with the detour, the truck population has more than doubled. Do you think that the city is keeping track? I hope so, it is important data for future planning exercises.

[LTD]

well if they're building something along there they really have no choice concrete, drywall, and building supplies definitely encompasses something along the construction side of things cranes for putting materials in high places ac units drywall etc .

[Grandan]

well if they're building something along there they really have no choice concrete, drywall, and building supplies definitely encompasses something along the construction side of things cranes for putting materials in high places ac units drywall etc .

They drive through here to get to the dump and are travelling through the neighbourhood to access the Glenmore Bypass.
They drive through here to get to the Dump via the Not Truck Route.
Its a mute point now because now it is a truck route until the detour is over. Scenic Road and Longhill are the regular truck routes, not Valley/Union.

[Grandan]

Now, I understand that having to drive the detour around this construction zone is a real inconvenience, to the point that drivers seem to need to speed through the Valley Road N Sexsmith community at great speed to make up the time loss.
To the dude travelling east on Valley Road from Union to Sexsmith Rd. this morning around 8:30.
As you rounded the corner your black SUV was getting squirrely as you came to the end of the curve. You were driving way too fast, that is a 50 km/hr section of road and you were likely travelling at least 100 km/hr.
I threw up my arms to get your attention so you did not drive into us. A lady driving the opposite direction in a red minivan saw the whole thing unfold and paused to ask, did you see that?
Had you lost control you would have run into her and probably landed up on us, you sir are an idiot!
Did the city of Kelowna bother to consult with us to explain that such an inconvenience was to be set upon us?
Nah!

[Grandan]

It's a beauty of a thing that new traffic circle. Well it will be when complete. The thing that picks me is that the contractor doing the work is not working overtime to get it done. No late days working, no weekend work, no night work just show up like it's just another job site.
The amount of traffic and inconvenience that the construction of the traffic circle has created is mind numbing. Surely with a bit of imagination the construction could have been done in phases and allowed some traffic through albeit more slowly.
Just about every construction project allows for the movement of some traffic through it and keep the disruptions to a minimum, not this one. The worst of it is the heavy trucks being diverted through the Valley Road N off Sexsmith, not nice.
The contract should have had better management of traffic than is being shown. The road closure should have been on the condition that the contractor worked around the clock to get it done. You sure would not see anything like this along a major highway. A lump of coal to the project manager on this one.