Posts Tagged ‘calgary’
I started my dream with my hands gripped on a Canon 20D. Being a diehard fan of motorsports, cars, tuning and the entire scene it created it was only natural that in 2006 I stumbled into the gates of Race City with a shiny new Canon DSLR.
What I found was a plethora of activities in front of me. A magical mist of petrol, melted rubber, and air purified by the smell of race gas and burning tires lingered over the entire facility. Straight ahead of me was pro-stock racers powering their machines down the lustrous 1/4 mile, to my right was a group of cas cars roaring in the oval and the stands full of spectators taking in the days events. If you’re a car guy like me, then you’ll know the feeling you get the second you come through the front gates. Your trek through Calgary’s large urban sprawl was rewarded with the grace of love, power, scent and freedom.
I spent the next 4 years honing my skills as a motorsport and automotive photographer. I experienced every type of event possible at this race track and documented it with this Canon 20D to share with friends and family once it was over. Everything from drag racing, lapping track days, CMRA, CCRA, Spec-D, DMCC, Chump Car Racing I was in and around it like a kid on a cupcake. A true motorsport enthusiast does not judge, does not pick and choose which events to watch and participate in. A true enthusiast enjoys them all, and will do everything in their power to see it all. This was me, it did not matter what engine, how big or small the wheels nor how many wheels there was I loved it. I was at home. You can ask anybody who has ever come to Race City with me how big my smile was when I arrived to the track, ask them how bright I became and how happy I was.
More after the jump, including a gallery of pictures
The Lamborghini Aventador is one of the exotics featured at the 2012 Calgary International Auto & Truck Show, and we were able to get up close with her for some exclusive pics. Check out the gallery after the jump.
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the Calgary International Auto & Truck Show opened its doors to the public yesterday and will be here until Sunday. The show, presented by the Calgary Motor Dealers’ Association brings together the hottest exotics with the daily drivers by all the manufacturers under one roof including yet to be released concept vehicles. Many of the vehicles are unlocked and attendees are encouraged to open up the cars, sit in them and explore all the new features of the latest models.
We took a quick spin around the show floor yesterday to check out some of the hottest rides and visted some of our friends in the automotive world. One of long term supporters, Tunerworks is at the show so look for their booth and say hi to them for us :)
Some of the noteworthy rides for this year include the Chevrolet Stingray concept, a sexy Ferrari FF, an eco-chiq Fisker Karma, the Urban Luxury Concept vehicle by Cadillac, a satin finished BMW M5 Concept, and of course we can’t forget the Subaru BRZ/Scion FR-S. There are a ton of other interesting rides scattered throughout so its definitely worth the $10 admission for adults and $8 for youths (11-17) to check out the show. Kids of course get in free so bring them along as there are some activities for them too!
For more show information or to buy tickets online, check out: www.autoshowcalgary.com, also check out the forums and see what others are saying about the 2012 Calgary Auto Show
The Calgary Police Service has release updated traffic statistics regarding its Intersection Safety Camera program (Red light and Speed on Green cameras). In 2011 a total of 116,322 tickets were issued, 99,258 for speeding and 17,064 for running the red light. The cameras monitor the streets 24 hours a day, 365 days a year snapping away generating revenue every 20 seconds. Sure beats hiring, training and deploying actual officers on the streets!
26,107 speeding tickets were issued at EB 16 Ave & 10 St alone where the speed limit is 50km/h. That works out to 71 tickets a day. This sounds a bit excessive, and I imagine the City of Calgary traffic department as well as the Calgary Police expected this intersection would be brought up when they released the statistics.
“When we put this in perspective in the number of vehicles that travel through the intersection, what that says to us is the equipment is working as it’s designed to work,” said Insp. Michael Watterston, the head of Calgary’s Traffic Unit.
“We have a small percentage of motorists that speed through that intersection or fail to stop for that red light, so in that sense, generally, people are obeying the speed limit, the traffic light cycle, so that’s comforting.”
In 2011, a total of 5.8 million vehicles went through the intersection which means less than 1% of those were speeding or ran the red light, pretty good right? Not exactly. It really depends on what angle you want to look at the numbers. While Insp. Watterston uses the the term “motorists” a more accurate term would be ‘vehicle trips”. 1% of the vehicle trips at the intersection in question resulted in a ticket being issued but if we were to look at the % of motorists or unique people being ticketed the # would be quite a bit higher. Why does this matter? If 15% or 20% of individuals that drive through that intersection are speeding then perhaps it would actually be safer if the speed limit was raised to 60 kph to minimize any speed differences in traffic. The goal is safety right?
60 KPH Zone - Fence Separation, Sidewalk adjacent to roadway
Take a look at the above photo showing 16 Ave SW in the 60kph zone which is about 4 blocks before the speed camera. Now take a look at where the speed limit is dropped to 50kph right before the speed camera. The roadway is wider, it is separated by a stronger concrete planter and the sideway is separated from the roadway. Motorists on this stretch will feel more comfortable driving at a higher rate of speed in the 50 zone than they would in the 60 zone, which is precisely why there is a speed camera there. There is higher tendency for motorists to speed here. Safety is not the primary concern here.
50 KPH Zone - Concrete Separation, Sidewalk separated from roadway
Speaking of safety, I decided to look into the statistics over the last few years to see if the ISCs were really making our streets safer. In the years prior to the launch of the speed-on-green cameras, injury collisions dropped from 3300 in 2007 to about 3000 in 2008 then to 2569 in 2009. The speed cameras were introduced in spring of 2009 (2 cameras were upgraded initially) and the full deployment of the speed-on-green cameras was completed at the end of the year. The trend for collisions was down even before all the cameras were upgraded. What about injury collisions after the “safety cameras” were installed? Flat. 2473 in 2010 and 2466 in 2011.
Bottom line, upgrading the red light cameras to be speed cameras (let’s call it what it actually is, instead of a safety camera) was strictly for revenue. In fact, Ald. John Mar who is on the Police Commission said:
“the police commission will carry on with the program despite early numbers suggesting that Calgarians aren’t slowing down.”
Hmm, of course they will carry on, money talks.
The City of Calgary will be wrapping up its year long pilot project on LED street lights in the next few weeks. Last February, the City installed LED bulbs from seven different manufacturers (LED Roadway, Ruud, Lumen, Elumen Lighting Networks, Dialight, Deco and Leotek was added into the mix in November) in Brentwood.
While there is currently no funding for a city-wide deployment of LED bulbs, the objective of the pilot project is to evaluate electricity savings associated with various LED lighting fixtures and to determine whether the technology aligns with the City’s long term street light upgrade strategy.
In 2002 the City began replacing the “bubble” street lights with a newer flat lens design by EnviroSmart. The benefit was two-fold: It focused the light downward towards the street reducing light pollution and due to the lower wattage bulb it cut the electrical use by nearly half on residential streets. The upgrade to the flat lens resulting in $1.7M in annual electrical cost savings. The cost of that upgrade will be paid off by the time this current LED pilot project ends.
The flat lens resulted in about $45 savings per street light and by comparison the LED bulbs would save about $15 per street light. A further $15 would be saved on maintenance costs for the LED bulbs as they would last longer. Calgary is well suited for LED street lights as the pole spacing is quite tight in much of the city. The “over-lighting” of Calgary may have been inefficient in the past, but it may allow LED fixtures which tend to have a tighter beam pattern to be installed in the next few years.
If you want to check out the LED street light project in Brentwood, check out the following map on the City of Calgary website: LED Streetlight Pilot Project Map We’ve also included a few pictures after the jump to show the whiteness of the light, it looks great and reduces electricity usage to boot.
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Here’s a reason to be happy if you’re in Calgary. The City of Calgary launched a highly anticipated free app for the iPhone this morning, called YYC Roads. The app allows the user to receive notifications for snow events, current road conditions, access to traffic cameras, live locations of plow trucks and sanders, and status of roads that have been plowed.
You can download the app here, or simply search for YYC Roads in the app store. Be sure to join our forums to discuss the app with fellow motorists!
One of my favourite cold day foods since moving to Calgary is Phở. Nothing beats trekking through the cold to get your hands on a big warm spicy bowl of soup. I never find Phở to be all that filling which I swear really helped with this review. The Noodle Bus, one of the new food trucks to be roaming Calgary streets, taking up a location usually downtown before lunch and serving quick delicious food to the masses.
I arrived at the bus at 11:10. After snapping a few photos I make my way to the line (the whole 2 people ahead of me) and begin filling out the handy little paper order sheet, which really reminded me of ordering at other sit-down Phở restaurants. I ordered up Satay Beef and Sugarcane Shrimp skewers, the standard deep-fried springrolls, an order of Beef Noodle Soup with Satay and the round it all up Deep Fried Banana Fritters for dessert.
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Spotted this ridiculously insane car outside of Kulu Motorcars waiting for its lucky new owner. You are looking at a Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG Black Series. Only a little over 100 of these are in Canada. This particular one appears to have been modified by Renntech resulting in over 800 HP and 1000 lb. ft of twist.
The Renntech version of the SL65 BS gets an ECU upgrade, upgraded exhaust system and bigger pumps for the intercooler. A beefier tranny and LSD are also available, but not sure if this particular car has it. I’m sure the driver will get intimate with the seat once their foot is planted on the throttle.
More high-res pictures are available in the gallery after the jump.
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The AMG Performance Tour Road Show made a stop in Calgary this week, bringing with them 14 AMG vehicles for a lucky few to sample. AMG owners were invited by their respective dealerships and sales staff to join AMG in testing out their current line of vehicles in an enviroment they were designed for, on the race track, at Race City Motorsports Park.
Being the biggest AMG fanboy out there, and having owned 4 different AMGs in the past few years, I was given an invite to this event. Seeing as this is the final week for Race City (it’s officially closing after this weekend), what better way than to spend a few hours on the track I grew up with, hammering on some of the finest (and personal favorite) vehicles from Affalterbach.
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This weekend, the City has finished making some changes to 10th Avenue SW between Crowchild and Macleod Trail. The most significant change is the removal of the median at 14th street that prevented traffic from crossing, preventing 10th Avenue from being a east-west corridor. New lights have been installed and will be activated Tuesday October 11th. A new 3-way stop has been installed at 18th street to allow the east/west flow of vehicles through the intersection.
Commuters taking 11th or 12th Avenue to enter and exit downtown are encouraged to use 10th Ave as an alternative route. The changes should help increase access to 10th Ave to facilitate future development. The new traffic pattern will be right next to the future Sunalta LRT station on the West LRT line. Both of these changes will be welcome changes to drivers as they should help relieve some of the traffic congestion on Bow Trail coming into the downtown core.
Cyclists were not left out in the latest changes to the 10th Avenue corridor. A new parking ban will be in effect during the evening rush hour (3:30pm - 6pm) in the westbound curb lane. During this time, the lane wil be reserved for cyclists only. The parking restrictions run on 10th Avenue from Macleod Trail up to 13th street.
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