Originally Posted by
adventurepdx
Dang, I didn't realize you've been around
that long!
I know that the conventional wisdom is 1 is better than 1a. When I was touring through the area as part of my big tour in 2011 (admittedly not as long ago as your first tour in the area) and needed to get from Calgary to Banff, that was the advice given to me and my partner. We decided to use 1a. The getting out of Calgary was a bit hairy for a while (then again, it seems like any route in and out of Prairie cities is), but after that it was okay. We didn't find the two-lane segment west of Cochrane to be bad. The traffic was fairly modest, even in July. Admittedly the pavement was a little rough, especially by Alberta standards, though that was ten years ago. I'm sure if there was an accident or construction on 1 that might change. But we didn't regret using 1a to get to Banff.
Well... I haven't been around as long as Doug of course
My first "real" tour was in 1989 from Calgary to Vancouver on a converted 2x5 gaspipe mtb with marginally functional brakes.
As to the 1a. I would just say take a look at street view in some places and determine ones comfort level. Everyone's milage will vary.
Bu⁰t you did remind me of a variant to get around the mess at Canada Olympic Park. Take the road out to Cochrane and then the road south from there to the Trans Canada
