Right turn into Calgary neighbourhood closing after crashes near dayhome

A right-hand turn from 162nd Avenue S.W. onto Bridlecrest Boulevard S.W. will close for now after repeated crashes near a dayhome.

A right turn into a southwest Calgary neighbourhood will be closed—for now—after repeated crashes near a licensed dayhome raised safety concerns among residents.

Ward 13 Coun. Dan McLean confirmed to CTV News city crews will barricade the turn from 162 Avenue S.W. onto Bridlecrest Boulevard S.W. while officials determine a permanent solution.

The move comes after residents reported a series of crashes over the past two years, including several incidents where vehicles left the roadway near the Rainbow Blooms Dayhome.

Christine Sinclair, who lives nearby and has a five-year-old son who attends the dayhome, says the crashes have become a worrying trend.

“Over the last two years, we’ve had over 10 accidents at this intersection,” Sinclair said.

“It’s just super dangerous.”

Another crash happened earlier this week.

“There was a car that went too fast; it slid out and went right through the median,” she said.

“The driver took out the median sign and the stop sign in the process.”

No injuries were reported in the latest incident, but a previous incident in April 2024, which resulted in a pickup truck crashing into a home, saw three people sent to hospital.

Concrete barriers have been installed in the front yard of the dayhome for over a year now in an attempt to stop vehicles from entering the property, Sinclair said.

“The city needs to close down this road,” she said.

According to Sinclair, the response is long overdue, as updates often only come after residents follow up with officials.

“They never ever respond until we reach out to them,” she said.

“This has been an ongoing battle; we had a public town hall. They had a study where they checked the speeds and the traffic and all of that stuff.”

City of Calgary outlines past measures

The City of Calgary says several steps were previously taken.

“Following concerns raised by the community and ward office, the City of Calgary mobility team has made several improvements at the identified location,” a statement said.

Those changes included enhanced signage, pavement markings and delineators installed in 2024.

The city also ran a pilot project in the summer of 2025 that temporarily altered traffic movements by closing down the intersection.

Traffic Services found only modest changes in vehicle speeds during the pilot project, with reductions of about one to two kilometres per hour.

Officials told Sinclair in an email Friday they recommended keeping the intersection open for now in its current configuration while considering speed humps along Bridlecrest Boulevard S.W.

Speed hump proposal questioned

Sinclair says installing speed humps would not address what residents believe is the core issue.

“The problem is 162,” she said.

She says vehicles approaching from nearby Stoney Trail often enter the area at high speeds.

“You’ve got to remember Stoney Trail is a major highway, and sometimes people are coming up and down that road at 130, sometimes faster,” she said.

“Even if you’re coming around this corner at 60, that’s still too fast to come around a corner onto a residential street.”

Sinclair also questions whether speed humps would help slow traffic.

“People typically tend to go around speed bumps,” she said.

“You see a speed bump on a road, and you kind of go around to avoid it.”

Sinclair believes the safest option would be closing the access point.

Councillor in favour of permanent closure

McLean says the city has been studying the issue and consulting with residents.

“It’s been a problem for quite some time, and my office and myself have been engaged with it,” he said.

McLean says residents were previously consulted on several options, including closing the road or converting it to one-way traffic.

“We knocked on all the doors again and provided packages for the three different options for that neighbourhood,” he said.

At the time, McLean says, most residents preferred to keep the access point open.

Instead, the city implemented signage and roadway markings and monitored traffic patterns.

But the latest crash has raised new concerns.

“Now we have another accident, and it is very worrisome,” McLean said.

He believes closing the access point might ultimately provide the safest solution.

“I’m very much in favour for that option. Just for ultimate safety, the best move, I think, would be to close that access off,” he said.

McLean says speeding vehicles exiting the nearby ring road appear to be the underlying issue as well.

“The root cause still is people coming off of that ring road,” he said.

“They’re just driving so damn fast.”

McLean also says increased traffic enforcement could help reduce speeds.

Sinclair says many residents worry the crashes could eventually lead to someone being seriously hurt.

“I would love them to take this seriously,” she said.

Sinclair says some in the community fear it could take a tragedy before stronger action is taken.

“That’s the scary thing. Is that what it’s going to take—for a kid to get hit or a person to get killed?” she said.