In the late 1960s, there were plans to extend Bow Trail along a more northerly alignment (roughly at the present-day 3 Avenue S) before linking with Memorial Drive east of downtown.

Fierce opposition to freeways running through downtown Calgary scuttled the plans, and the C-Train gained favour.

In 2004, the city of Calgary conducted a traffic volume study along Bow Trail that found the four lane road inadequate.

Although an interchange with Sarcee has been proposed for many years (with the abandoned "Go Plan" of the mid-1990s at one point proposing the interchange include a link to a southern extension of Shaganappi Trail), as of 2018 none is planned; the city built one further south at Sarcee and 17th Avenue S.W.

fall within the lands being considered for CalgaryNEXT, a proposed inner-city sports and recreation hub intended to consolidate the city's professional and amateur football and hockey venues (among other uses) in one location; potential rerouting of Bow Trail is among the related infrastructure concerns.