West Edmonton LRT construction still up for debate
By Elizabeth Walters
EDMONTON – The West Edmonton LRT route has been approved by city council, but mature neighborhoods still have concerns about Transit Oriented Development.
“Guidelines are contemplating the incorporation of greater density around train stations, so for communities like Glenwood and West Jasper Place, that would mean a significant change in the character of their neighbourhoods,” said Ward 1 councillor Linda Sloan. “Those discussions have been very much in the forefront of people’s minds.”
Transit Oriented Development would mean concentrated housing, shopping and employment within a short walk of any transit station. The vision is to create a more walkable and bikeable city.
Community reaction
“I think everyone respects that the reason for designing a train system in a city is to provide a more affordable means of transportation, and associated with that, to use land to its highest use,” Sloan said. “The challenge in the route to the west end is that it runs through some of our oldest and most mature communities.”
West Jasper Place, for example, would have three station stops. “If there was higher density built in all of those three stations, it would fundamentally change the character of their community,” Sloan said.
Timeline
The timeline for the LRT is still up for debate, said Nat Alampi, the project manager for LRT design and construction. The project is expected to cost $3.2 billion to $3.5 billion. “If we had all of the money to build the whole thing, we could in the foreseeable future still have an operational system by 2017 or 2018,” Alampi said. “However, as funding is not in place for any of the system, the timelines for the west LRT are still unknown.
“Until it’s actually built and there’s shovels in the ground, everything is subject to debate,” Alampi added. “Nothing’s a guarantee, but this is the plan that is in place.”
An LRT on its way to Century Park waits for passengers at the Corona LRT Station on Sept. 23, 2011. Photo by Elizabeth Walters.
The west LRT line has been approved to run down 104 Avenue to Stony Plain Road and up to 156 Street then south to 87 Avenue. At 87 Avenue, the line will proceed west to Lewis Estates.
Main stops will include Grant MacEwan City Centre Campus, Oliver Square, Jasper Gates, Jasper Place Transit Centre, Meadowlark Mall, Misericordia Hospital and West Edmonton Mall.
The travel time from Grant MacEwan City Centre Campus to Lewis Estates would be about 25 minutes, which would shave 15 minutes off the current fastest bus route.
LRT Style
The LRT would have a low-floor urban style, which means it will be at street-level, but it will still be separate from traffic. The new line will also include stops that make it easy to connect to the existing LRT line.
Riding the LRT
Some LRT riders would like the city to get on with building the west line. “I feel like they should have done it a long time ago,” said rider Rachel Fulmore.
Even though the west LRT line is years away, it is still a priority to city council and available funding will be allocated to its construction. Sloan expects debate about the line’s route and effects on the surrounding communities to continue.
“Right from the get-go there have been areas that have had high a degree of difficulty with the route,” she said. “That has not changed. The addition of these new density guidelines has caused additional concerns, and so the discussions are continuing.”