Remember The Rathole?

I’ve had this draft hanging out on my dashboard since July and I figure it’s time to finish it off…

July was a wet month with some torrential downpours. Because of it, I posted to Twitter:

https://twitter.com/#!/jeeprock/status/94508774924103680

I realized that I was dating myself because some people (younger folks) on the Twitter had no idea what The Rathole was!! I had to admit that I was shocked at this because The Rathole was a complete traffic abomination by the end of it’s life and was completely hated by most Edmontonians.

: Edmonton’s hated Rathole

At the time of its construction in 1927, The Rathole was lauded from an engineering perspective and was a source of controversy right from the start. The contract for the construction was awarded to a contractor who hadn’t turned in the lowest bid and would ultimately result in legal proceedings.

The Rathole would live for 73 years chock full of traffic jams, semi-trucks driving tall loads into it’s concrete face and flooding with approximately 27,000 cars driving through it, per day, near it’s demise.

In 2000, it was finally demolished and replaced with a fabulous six lane free-flow roadway that would eliminate the traffic horrors in the area. However, for as much of a nightmare The Rathole was, it’s hard to imagine that there would be people who wouldn’t be aware of it’s legacy!

Anyway, for those who are interested… there are a few articles I’ve linked below. I’m also trying out some QR codes so get yourself a QR code reader and get scanning!

Standard General – The Rathole Project