‘The Last of Us’ filming backs up Calgary morning traffic
Posted May 5, 2022 10:34 am.
Last Updated May 5, 2022 3:13 pm.
Drivers in downtown Calgary saw high volumes of traffic on Thursday, as filming of the HBO series The Last of Us clogged up the morning commute.
Several people were stuck in gridlock for hours during the morning rush, as a number of road closures caused major backups.
DELAYS still growing downtown. Extremely heavy volume on all main (and no-so-main) routes. Filming closures linger at 6 Ave and 2 St, as well as 8 Ave at 4 St SW.
Callers frustrated with backups extending as far as Deerfoot Tr NE and Crowchild Tr SW. #yyc #yyctraffic #yycroads pic.twitter.com/FdXbEYhwXj
— CityNews Calgary Traffic (@CityNews660) May 5, 2022
Overnight closures included 5 Street SW between 4 Avenue SW and 5 Avenue SW, which essentially closed access to 8 Avenue SW, with no way over the CTrain line.
Filming also shut down 6 Avenue SW at 2 Street SW and 8 Avenue SW at 5 Street SW.
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Callers to CityNews also reported massive delays waiting for the bus, as the closures detoured multiple Calgary Transit routes.
It took several hours for all the delays to finally go away and for the congestion to ease, and it may just be one of the small prices to pay for Calgary becoming one of the hot destinations for big budget TV shows and movies.
“I can completely understand that Calgarians were frustrated,” said Mayor Jyoti Gondek. “But the film sector is an important part of our economy, this production in particular is really significant for our city.”
The Last of Us filming on 8 Avenue in downtown Calgary on April 7, 2022 also caused a significant blockage for drivers. PHOTO: Tom Ross/CityNews
Since this delay was not expected due to the project going a bit longer than originally planned, it raised the question on if there are any backup plans in place from the city. This is not the first time The Last of Us has resulted in some backups in the downtown core, and Gondek said they will take a look at what they can do.
“We have to make sure that as we are evolving as a city and as we are transitioning our economy we’re understanding what the impacts are to Calgarians, so we will absolutely be having a look at how we can mitigate impacts on people’s commutes while at the same time we are strengthening our economy.”
There are some other lane closures planned through the weekend in downtown Calgary, but nothing nearly as significant as what ran through Wednesday night and Thursday morning. However, it’s not quite known when exactly filming will end for The Last of Us, which has a budget of over $100 million, and it is not due to be released until 2023.
–With files from Tanya Blakney, Kenny Mason, and Kelly Turner.
