132 Ave Renewal

[TAS]

There is an argument that "key urban roadways which connect to the provincial road network" should be made as efficient as possible. 132 Ave is not one of them.

Exactly this. Not to mention enhanced safety for all users to commute, get to school/rec spaces etc who don't choose to drive or can't drive (medical, financial, age). Our transportation system can't be a one size fits all approach.

 

[degrandprix]

Ugh, I just received a form letter response from the transportation minister re: bike lane removal. It's astonishing how these people can shift language to attempt to tweak reality to reflect their ideology. You'd think 132 Ave was the Yellowhead or similar. And don't get me started on the hypocrisy of endlessly whining about federal overreach and then continuing to overreach into municipal politics. I am so deeply, profoundly sick of these clowns. And if that guy is an honourable anything, Imma eat my hat.

View attachment 654508

I also find it hilarious they keep saying "Alberta's roads must continue to support evolving transportation needs".

That's literally what's already happening here. The road is evolving to better accommodate active transport and all the new e-scooters, e-bikes and other personal electric vehicles people are using to get around now.

 

[thommyjo]

Ugh, I just received a form letter response from the transportation minister re: bike lane removal. It's astonishing how these people can shift language to attempt to tweak reality to reflect their ideology. You'd think 132 Ave was the Yellowhead or similar. And don't get me started on the hypocrisy of endlessly whining about federal overreach and then continuing to overreach into municipal politics. I am so deeply, profoundly sick of these clowns. And if that guy is an honourable anything, Imma eat my hat.

View attachment 654508

I got the same reply.

My response was a bit more direct, calling on the minister to produce data backing up claims of congestion, and calling into question his credentials and lack of understanding of the specific situation as well as broader transportation planning.

He called 132 ave 137 ave in one of his interviews haha. Which might explain his confusion about the importance of the road for cars…

 

[trevorhayden]

UCP ministers live in the Upside Down. No point engaging with them.

 

[David A]

I got the same reply.

My response was a bit more direct, calling on the minister to produce data backing up claims of congestion, and calling into question his credentials and lack of understanding of the specific situation as well as broader transportation planning.

He called 132 ave 137 ave in one of his interviews haha. Which might explain his confusion about the importance of the road for cars…

I would find a response letter like that very frustrating, but I do still feel it is important to respond to them on issues. Will it get eventually get through to them? Hard to say, but if they don't get push back I feel they will take it as agreement with their positions.

 

[constance_chlore]

I would find a response letter like that very frustrating, but I do still feel it is important to respond to them on issues. Will it get eventually get through to them? Hard to say, but if they don't get push back I feel they will take it as agreement with their positions.

Yeah, especially now that recent polling shows that Edmonton is electorally in play, we need to be really clear in giving positive feedback when politicians do things we like and negative feedback when they do things we don't.

 

[dkazzed]

There's a counter on 132 Ave just east of 108 St in both directions.

Average cyclist counts per day
June - 122
July - 150
August - 130

Record day - August 16, 2025 - 286 cyclists

 

[TAS]

There's a counter on 132 Ave just east of 108 St in both directions.

Average cyclist counts per day
June - 122
July - 150
August - 130

Record day - August 16, 2025 - 286 cyclists

Good to have these early counts. Of course the whole middle section of the 132Ave network isn't complete yet.

Be curious what the pedestrian count is as well but I don't believe that info is captured.

 

[dkazzed]

Good to have these early counts. Of course the whole middle section of the 132Ave network isn't complete yet.

Be curious what the pedestrian count is as well but I don't believe that info is captured.

They are actually!

June - 217
July - 184
August - 177

Record day - June 16, 2025 - 366 pedestrians

 

[jason403]

Hopefully the new government comes in and removes them.

 

[TAS]

Hopefully the new government comes in and removes them.

I wonder if there was a big turnover on council if that could possibly even happen.

Would Cartmell and his team? Principe would maybe make a motion.

@jason403 you should ask the mayoralty candidates Cartmell and Jaffer in particular if they would go that far?

Certainly Knack and Walters would be against.

Some PACE candidates probably would be in favour.

 

[thommyjo]

Great way to be fiscally responsible! @jason403 with his resident rage bait again

 

[Gronk!]

Just put @jason403 on your Ignore Lists. This person is a troll.

 

[itom987]

To be honest, I thought they were going to just build standard 2 lane asphalt bike paths. Instead they went overboard on 132 Ave. with 2, 2 lane asphalt bike paths and extra wide sidewalks. If we did that everywhere with the 100 million budget we wouldn't go far. Seriously, who's idea was it to build 132 Ave this way? As a taxpayer I feel like I've been duped. I thought we were going to get bike paths throughout the city.

 

[CplKlinger]

To be honest, I thought they were going to just build standard 2 lane asphalt bike paths. Instead they went overboard on 132 Ave. with 2, 2 lane asphalt bike paths and extra wide sidewalks. If we did that everywhere with the 100 million budget we wouldn't go far. Seriously, who's idea was it to build 132 Ave this way? As a taxpayer I feel like I've been duped. I thought we were going to get bike paths throughout the city.

That's a different project with a different budget. 132 Ave is a neighbourhood renewal project. The active transportation acceleration project (the $100 million thing) does indeed consist largely of shared-use paths, but also includes some standard bike lanes, shared roadways, etc.

This memo breaks down the cost elements for 132 Ave's renewal. The cost of the bike lanes was actually offset by the savings from decreasing the road width. The budget is around $9 million higher than it would be if they did a "like for like" renewal, but this is because of the concrete for the wider sidewalks, raised crosswalks, landscaping, etc. The maintenance costs will be a little bit higher due to ploughing the bike lanes, maintaining the landscaping, etc., but the memo notes that this is offset by the estimated $3-4 million in lifecycle savings because the amount of asphalt that needs to be microsurfaced, repaved, etc. every 10-20 years will be reduced by 40%.