Frustrated with road work? Calgary paving more streets than usual

Calgary drivers facedwith delays due to road construction projects can look forward to those frustrations wrapping up by the end of the month.

The city is doing more road construction than usual because of the slumping economy, said Colin McGeachy, a spokesman with the roads department. And a wet summer slowed the pace of construction.

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But citypaving projects should be complete by the end of the month, he said.

To get her daughter to music lessons, Lynn Mychaluk has to navigate the intersection of Kensington Road and 14th Street in northwest Calgary, and these days it rarely goes smoothly.

"It's really hard to get where you need to go on time," she said. "I know traffic is always heavier in the fall with school starting and everybody coming back to work. But honestly, having so many half-done roads all at the same time, I don't remember anything like it, actually."

And it's frustrating, says driver Monika Sobecki.

"You don't know whether you're going to get there or how long it's going to take you," she said. "It just doesn't seem to be stopping."

The construction on 14th Streethad to be done in stages, said McGeachy.

"That's why this project has taken as long as it has, because it had to be done in sections. It was not feasible to completely shut the road down," he said.

"We do have an end date in sight."

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