Shaganappi Trail () is a major super-4 expressway in the northwest quadrant of Calgary,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. It extends to the south as Montgomery View, a small service road in the neighbourhood of Montgomery and that provides access to

Edworthy Park Edworthy Park is a city park located in the Northwest section of Calgary along the south shore of the Bow River. The Canadian Pacific Railway crosses the length of the park. It was named after Thomas Edworthy, who immigrated to the Calgary area ...

, passes north past

Market Mall CF Market Mall is one of the largest malls (by area) in Calgary, Alberta, Canada (900,490 square feet/83,658.3 m²). It is located in Varsity, a suburban neighbourhood in the city's northwest quadrant on Shaganappi Trail. The mall is jointly ow ...

and the western boundary of

Nose Hill Park Nose Hill Park is a natural park in the northwest quadrant of Calgary, Alberta which covers over . It is the fourth-largest urban park in Canada, and one of the largest urban parks in North America. It is a municipal park, unlike Fish Creek, ...

, and terminates in the neighbourhood of Nolan Hill in the north, with city planning maps indicating future northern extension beyond 144 Avenue NW. The name "Shaganappi" is of Cree origin, referring to the bison hide lacings that held

Red River ox cart The Red River cart is a large two-wheeled cart made entirely of non-metallic materials. Often drawn by oxen, though also by horses or mules, these carts were used throughout most of the 19th century in the fur trade and in westward expansion i ...

s together. Despite the name, it is not located near the Shaganappi neighbourhood, which is located south of the

Bow River The Bow River is a river in Alberta, Canada. It begins within the Canadian Rocky Mountains and winds through the Alberta foothills onto the prairies, where it meets the Oldman River, the two then forming the South Saskatchewan River. These w ...

Route

Shaganappi Trail begins as a short 2 lane road providing access to Edworthy Park. After crossing Bowness Road at a signal light it immediately travels through an interchange with 16 Avenue before widening to a 4 lane cross section with a 70 km/h speed limit. It then climbs up a hill below the Alberta Children's Hospital out of the river valley. At the top it passes through signal lights at University Avenue, 32nd Avenue, 40th Avenue and Varsity Drive passing next to Market Mall and through the community of Varsity. It then passes over

Crowchild Trail Crowchild Trail is a major expressway in western Calgary, Alberta. The segment from the 12 Mile Coulee Road at the edge of the city to 16 Avenue NW (Trans-Canada Highway, Highway 1) is designated as Highway 1A by Alberta Transportation ...

in a spit diamond interchange before continuing past Northland Mall. The road widens to 5 lanes a passes through lights at Dalhousie Drive and John Laurie Boulevard and the speed limit rises to 80km/h. The road then cuts up a steep hill through Nose Hill park where deer are frequently seen. After passing an intersection for Edgemont it then descends down another steep hill past some lights at Country Hills Boulevard. After that the expressway ends and the road shrinks to 2 lanes and the speed limit goes down to 60km/h. It crosses Stoney Trail at a partial Cloverleaf interchange before widening to a 4 lane arterial road. From there it continues north until arriving at its terminus with 144 Avenue.

History

Shaganappi Trail was originally planned in 1970 to be part of a network of freeways. The 1970 functional study planned it to extend south as a controlled access road from the future ring road (now Stoney Trail) past several Interchanges to a three-level interchange at

. From there on it would continue through Varsity, past Interchanges connecting to Market Mall and then down the hill to connect to a massive six-way, free-flowing combination interchange with a proposed Highway 1 freeway and Memorial Drive. (Now called Bowness Road). From there it would then cross the

and connect with

Bow Trail Bow Trail is an expressway in the southwest quadrant of Calgary, Alberta. It lends its name from the Bow River, which runs through the city north of the road itself. It runs from downtown Calgary, where the westbound traffic continues from 6 A ...

and

Sarcee Trail Sarcee Trail is a major limited-access road in Calgary, Alberta. It is divided into two portions, one in the south end of the city, and one in the north end of the city. Originally planned as one continuous route, plans to connect the two halves ...

at another major interchange. Edworthy Park on both sides of the rivers was meant to be a temporary park to protect the

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

, since there are no Bow River crossings between 16 Avenue NW to the west and

to the east. The 6-lane freeway was planned to be built in three stages, with the first stage being built soon after the functional plan was released. The first stage involved constructing Shaganappi as a 4 lane limited-access road with signalized intersections. It was constructed from Bowness Road to what is now

Country Hills Boulevard Country Hills Boulevard is a major expressway in Calgary, Alberta. It is notably one of the longest east-west routes in Calgary and one few routes north of Alberta Highway 1, 16 Avenue N that is mostly continuous from the west end of the city to th ...

. At the same time, the small overpass carrying 16 Ave was grandfathered into an interchange with Shaganappi from an older road arrangement. The plan to extend Shaganappi across the river and upgrade it to a freeway was proposed again in the 1''995 Calgary Transportation Plan'', also known as the "Go Plan"; however public opposition to both it and a similar plan to extend Sarcee Trail through a natural area, led to it officially being eliminated from the plans in 2009. As a result the road remains mostly in its stage one configuration in the present time. In the 1990s the road was extended into Hidden Valley and a split diamond interchange was constructed at Crowchild trail. The road was extended beyond the Stoney trail right of way when the Sherwood community was developed around 2005. In 2009 when northwest Stoney Trail opened, a Partial cloverleaf interchange with a 3-lane overpass was constructed to service Shaganappi. However, grading was put in place to allow it to be easily upgraded to a

combination interchange In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, using ...

if the freeway plans were implemented. Shaganappi was extended north as an Arterial road to 144 Ave in 2013 as more neighbourhoods were built. 144 ave is currently the edge of the city, but when future communities get built farther north, Shaganappi will likely be extended further.

Future

After the cancelation of the extension south of the Bow River and the 16 Avenue connecting freeway Shaganappi Trail was downgraded in classification to an arterial road south of Crowchild Trail. Recently made long term plans have moved away from freeway conversion and instead plan a 6 lane arterial street with curb HOV lanes, additional signalized intersections and bike lanes. The confusing and accident-prone interchange complex at 16 Ave, Bowness road and Shaganappi Trail also is now planned to be replaced by a diamond Interchange favouring 16 Avenue resulting in 2 new signal lights along Shagannapi. Between Crowchild and Stoney Trail, Shagannapi remains classified as a ''skeletal road'' by the City of Calgary and freeway upgrades still remains a possibility in the long term. That section of the corridor is also planned to contain a future BRT route as well which may run on the shoulder of the Shaganappi trail or on its own parallel road. constructed as limited-access road to allow for upgrades to freeway up to Stoney Trail with grading in place to allow for it to be upgraded to a

; Starting in 2021 the overpass at Stoney trail is going to be twinned to allow for 6 lanes to cross Stoney rather than the current 3. As part of the project a full access signalized intersection is planned at Hidden Valley Drive.

Major intersections

From south to north.

Pedestrian crossings

Because of the roadway's width, high traffic volume, and the need for pedestrians to cross it, three dedicated crossings have been built, one at

, one near Valiant Drive, and one at

Northland Village Mall Northland Village Mall was a shopping mall located in northwest Calgary, Alberta. The mall opened in 1971, with it being further expanded in 2005. The mall closed in 2021, with demolition to redevelop the mall happening throughout the year 2022 to ...

called the Shaganappi Trail Pedestrian Overpass (2015).

References