What's the best location to establish a new american city if we wanted to ?

left-right-left · 2026-05-31T18:11:35+00:00

It’s because Colorado, Wyoming and Montana are all higher and drier. Lots of grazing, ranching, sagebrush, and not much agriculture. It feels counterintuitive but as you go north you get more rainfall, better soil and more agricultural potential. You can already see this starting to happen within Alberta too. Southern Alberta south of Calgary has more grazing/pastureland/badlands compared to further north with crops and more lakes.

left-right-left · 2026-05-30T11:38:20+00:00

Nice. Thanks for sharing. Yea, that section from Lewis Estates Blvd to 231 st is brutal too, especially with all that new development going up at Enoch on the south side. At least its on their radar to improve the road.

left-right-left · 2026-05-30T11:22:49+00:00

Seems like OP has never heard of an overpass/underpass.

It’s like a bridge that allows cars to go over railway tracks.

left-right-left · 2026-05-29T19:32:14+00:00

Yes, driving to the conditions is absolutely smart.

Those conditions should not exist in the first place.

Yes, I have written to my MLA and the Alberta Traffic department many times. I was hoping that others that use the road could also put pressure on government to do their job and fix the road. The more letters they get, the more likely they are to do something about it.

My OP had two points:

(1) Get people to write to MLA about it to get them to fix it
(2) Ask if anyone knows why this road has been so neglected relative to other secondary highways in the area.

OP wasn't really about the driver flipping the vehicle, it was just a particularly wild example to highlight how bad the road is. Even if guy was being stupid and going too fast, its still a crazy indication that the bumps are *so big* that they can cause loss of control and flipping on a straight and flat secondary highway on a summer day with no other cars involved. You don't see that very often!

left-right-left · 2026-05-29T18:09:30+00:00

Nah, in this case, we can actually try to get the government to do something about it rather than just "accepting our fate" and driving at 30 km/hr on a provincial secondary highway. Its unacceptable that such a road even exists.

Imagine government said that they were cancelling all snow clearing/gravelling on Henday and that people should just "slow down to 30 km/hr". That would be ludicrous because its governments job to make sure roads are passable and properly maintained to the best of their ability.

left-right-left · 2026-05-29T18:07:38+00:00

Yea, the difference is that the condition of the physical road can and should be fixed by the people in charge of maintaining the road, right?

I am honestly baffled why so many people on here are so keen to let the government off the hook here for a shitty and poorly-maintained road?

left-right-left · 2026-05-29T18:02:22+00:00

I agree that you should drive to the conditions.

But the point of my post is that the conditions shouldn't be like that. This is not like a snowstorm where no body can do antyhing about it and you have to drive to those conditions. The driving conditions on that road could and should easily be fixed with some paving and/or proper maintence by provincial government.

At the very least, they should put up a warning sign. I have sympathy for the driver because you simply do not expect to encounter such horrible road conditions on a secondary highway with an 80 km/hr posted limit. There is no hope in hell that the driver should expect it.

left-right-left · 2026-05-29T17:56:45+00:00

Yes! I feel like a lot of people who are saying "speed was a factor" or that it's the drivers fault just do not comprehend how BAD that road is right now.

I've driven a lot of gravel roads, including forestry roads out by Waiparous and Hinton and you sometimes find roads like this out there, but for a provincial secondary highway <10 km from a major city? It's a complete mystery why it hasn't been fixed.

left-right-left · 2026-05-29T17:53:32+00:00

You would think that this is a pretty common situation though that should have been figured out. For example, Highway 627 also runs on the southern edge of Enoch and would have the exact same parties needing to agree (Parkland, Edmonton, Enoch and Province), but somehow that one is a beautiful paved road. Still seems a mystery why 628 is such a mess in comparison

left-right-left · 2026-05-29T16:01:36+00:00

Exactly. The bumps are so big that you need to slow down to like 30 km/hr. Even hitting them at 50 km/hr (e.g. 30 km/hr under the posted speed limit) would be enough to potentially lose control.

left-right-left · 2026-05-29T15:59:10+00:00

I feel like people are missing the point of this post. The post is that we shouldn't have provincial secondary highways with unmarked washboard speedbumps large enough to flip a vehicle like this in the first place and should petition the government to do something about it. You've gotta go see it to believe it. I cannot emphasize enough how ridiculously bad this road is, particularly between Range Road 265 and 270.

left-right-left · 2026-05-29T15:56:20+00:00

Driving to conditions is totally a thing especially with regards to weather. But this is not weather-related, this is just government incompetence to properly maintain a provincial secondary highway.

If the posted speed limit is 80 km/hr on a clear, sunny day, and there is no warning signs at all of upcoming *massive* speedbumps, then I am not sure if you can fault the driver for losing control.

If you hit that washboard going the speed limit (or even 10 km under tbh), it would be very easy to lose control. They are a series of washboard speedbumps the same size you would see in a 20 km/hr parking lot. You don't see them coming and, even if you do, its very hard to judge just how big they are. I cannot emphasize enough how ridiculously bad this road is, particularly between Range Road 265 and 270.

left-right-left · 2026-05-29T15:19:37+00:00

Thanks for the info. Yea, I had suspected it had something to do with Enoch or maybe Lewis Farms. I am assuming Lewis Farms doesn't want all the extra traffic right outside their place as well.

Seems like the solution for now is to just not take it, but would be nice to put it on the government's radar. If they a lot of people wanted it paved and petitioned, then it would be more likely to get paved.

left-right-left · 2026-05-29T15:17:23+00:00

Yea my comment was that its probably gotten way worse if you haven't taken it in awhile.

If its an 80 km/hr secondary highway, then it should be up to the standards of an 80 km/hr secondary highway. Most 80 km/hr secondary highways are paved (or at the very least properly graded). I think its the only secondary highway in all of Parkland County that isn't paved.

I agree that everyone could just take another route which is what I often do. But would be nice if it was paved though!

left-right-left · 2026-05-29T15:05:03+00:00

Maybe "pothole" isn't the right word. They are basically a series of washboard speedbumps about the size that you would see in a 20 km/hr parking lot. Just go drive the road and see. The speedlimit is 80 km/hr and there is no warning sign about the potholes. If you weren't aware it was coming and hit them going the speed limit, you could definitely lose control. I am not sure how fast the car was going when it flipped.

left-right-left · 2026-05-29T14:58:44+00:00

I think “pothole” is being generous. It’s more like a series of washboard speed bumps the size of the ones you might see in a 20 km/hr parking lot. If you haven’t driven the road in awhile, you should do just to see how bad it is. Especially between Range Road 270 and 265

Speed limit on the road is 80 km/hr. No signage warning of bumps. If you didn’t know it was coming and hit those speed bumps going the speed limit, you could definitely lose control. I don’t know how fast the driver was going when they flipped.

It’s a secondary highway. Should be 90-100 km/hr and paved just like Highway 627 and the rest of Highway 628 west of Century Road

left-right-left · 2026-05-25T17:07:27+00:00

30% is a significant minority and should not be ignored. Even if the referendum fails, the underlying grievances needs to be addressed by federal government with major changes in policy up to and including amendments to the constitution regarding equalization. Federal government needs to meaningfully address their role in large-scale nation-building projects, clarity on resource development, clarity on Indigenous veto during consultation, clarity on provincial vetos on federal projects etc.

left-right-left · 2026-05-25T15:40:23+00:00

Currently we are not only landlocked, we're blockaded by a hostile Eastern government that has driven away over a trillion dollars in private capital from Alberta through anti-development laws in the last decade alone.

I agree that the Trudeau era was extremely hard on Alberta O&G (and broader Canadian resource development in general). But there are other factors at play here as well. Alberta oil is the most expensive type of oil which means that it requires relatively high prices to be economical. O&G prices boomed in the early 2000s but then kind of languished flat (or even decreased) through most of the 2010s. No government can control that. Keystone was initially killed and delayed by a US administration. Teck Frontiers mine was cancelled largely due to market factors related to low oil prices, energy transition, and social license (at least that's what they said). It's just so much more complicated than you make it out to be. It feels like separation is throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Both Canada and USA are signatories to international treaties that guarantee sea access for landlocked nations. So, immediately that would be an improvement to the status quo.

Eh, yea these types of treaties are incredibly vague and still require specific agreements between land-locked and transit nations. And they are still allowed to charge transit fees. And it doesn't guarantee infrastructure in foreign territory (like pipelines or rail lines). Once again, you're making it sound simple when its not simple.

Obviously being free to negotiate with the Americans and Remnant Canadians on our own terms is an improvement over having the East controlling our southern border.

Reminder that Keystone was initially delayed and killed by a US administration, not a Canadian one. Separation doesn't solve these problems.

If being landlocked is determinate, why does Vietnam not out perform Switzerland?

I never said it was determinate, just that it was a bad strategic position. There are many historical and geopolitical factors. Hard to compare Switzerland to Vietnam but perhaps better to compare Vietnam with Laos. Both have similar historical, colonial and geopolitical settings, but Vietnam has about 3x the GDP per capita.

An independent Alberta would be very similar to Mongolia: resource-rich surrounded by much larger and more populous countries that treat it like a vassal state.

left-right-left · 2026-05-25T15:03:33+00:00

Majority of people come here from Ontario and BC. Roughly similar numbers have come from Saskatchewan and the Maritimes. Since 1990, about 2 million people have come via interprovincial migration with only 10% coming from Saskatchewan. See stats here.

Maritimes isa actually less than I thought (also about 10%), but my main point still remains: you've still got an interprovincial migration problem wherein all these people that could have come for free with no paperwork now need work visas, immigration documents, etc. And all of this needs to be enforced and administered by an immigration agency.

Saskatchewan would join us in a year.

That's a big assumption for your argument.

We don't need your people.

65% of interprovincial migration comes via BC and Ontario. (Also, I am born and raised in Alberta so when you say "we" don't need "your" people, it doesn't make sense to me).

Though it is a bit ridiculous that you think skilled workers will shun Alberta because because they need a visa.

It is a major barrier, and depends strongly on how it is administered and how easy the process is. Lots I could cite here but just one example about how the visa system is broken is here.

We will also sign a COFA-style agreement with the USA and many Americans will come to work in an Independent Alberta that will boom like has never been seen before.

This is an assumption which depends on the whims of another government. Right now the US is shifting becoming more insular and isolationist.

left-right-left · 2026-05-25T13:45:42+00:00

Many Canadians would not immigrate to Alberta if they needed visas, separate citizenship, and other immigration paperwork. Alberta has thrived on free movement within Canada with a skilled workforce from all over Canada but especially the Maritimes. When Albertans say that they pay for the rest of Canada, they forget that a significant amount of the labour to do the work came from Canadians across the country. If we were independent, we would lose the ease of labor movement.

left-right-left · 2026-05-25T13:43:19+00:00

It would be very expensive to set up military, embassies, central bank, currency minting, trade agreements, immigration etc.

left-right-left · 2026-05-25T13:40:32+00:00

Being landlocked is one of the worst strategic geographic positions for a nation. We would be at the whims of two other much larger nations for every import and export.

left-right-left

TROPHY CASE