Road to Nowhere
Construction has finished on two key road extensions in Calgary, Alta, but the roads will not see vehicle, bicycle or pedestrian traffic for the next two years.
The extension roads are part of the Southwest Calgary Ring Road, an ongoing project in Alberta. Planning for the project commenced in the 1970s and, once completed in 2021, Calgary Ring Road will encircle the city, providing 101-kilometres of free-flow travel.
While Calgary did the brunt work of the road’s construction, the government paid the $18.4 million cost of the road extensins.
According to the city, completing the extensions allowed it to take advantage of lower construction costs.
“It’s a bit weird to build a road to nowhere, but given the facts here, I don’t think it’s an issue,” said city councillor Jeromy Farkas. “There won’t need to be any more work here next year, which will be a nice reprieve for the residents. And since no maintenance is required, I don’t see any real downside.”
Despite the roads being closed for all purposes, Farkas said he is working with associations in the local community to organize a bike parade on the roads next spring.
Busy Driver in Brampton
A recently posted video shows one busy Brampton, Ont. driver doing some high-speed multitasking on the 401 as he reads, writes and types on his phone behind the wheel.
The video, which was posted to Instagram on Oct. 17, shows a man balancing a textbook on his steering wheel while holding his phone in his right hand. Driving at speeds of more than 100 km/h, the driver can be seen flipping pages, looking down at his phone and typing a message with his thumb.
The real kicker, however, is that the video was captured by another driver—who was clearly using his cell phone while behind the wheel.
“This man is breaking laws to record another man breaking laws,” commented one user. “Smart work!”
Crazy Town’s Crazy Crash
American rap-rock band Crazy Town, best known for their 2000 hit song “Butterfly,” endured a crazy crash last Thursday when their tour van collided with a moose in Ontario.
The band’s frontman, Seth Binzer, guitarist Elias Tannous and drummer Roland Banks were driving along Highway 17 near Sudbury, Ont. when the van hit a moose wandering on the road.
Binzer shared a photo of the totalled tour van on Oct. 31.
“We just got out of the emergency room,” Binzer wrote to his fans. “By the grace of God, we are all okay, just cuts and bruises. We hit a moose on Route 17 in Ontario last night.”
Binzer also detailed the van’s extensive damage by sharing footage of the crash scene, along with graphic photos of his bruised and bloodied bandmates immediately after the crash.
“The moose, unfortunately, was killed instantly and we all just feel horrible about it,” Crazy Town wrote in a Facebook post. “As you can see in the video our rental van was totalled, but we are still planning on finishing the tour.”
Sure enough, the band went on to play its remaining Canadian shows in Ottawa, Ont., Montreal and Quebec City, Que. over the weekend.
