Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Edmonton

[Gronk!]

There is a better solution -- expropriate land from CPR to punch 76th Avenue through from 99th Street to Gateway Boulevard. It would have the added benefit of forcing CP to focus on its unimproved, underused land that once was its mainstay rail yard. Put a BRT there. Don't further stress Old Strathcona with a high volume transit run through its very heart.

If CPR refuses to budge then build a multi-use bridge at 76 Ave from Gateway to 99 St.
In any case, they need to move the Auto Rescue yard away from 76 Ave/100 St, install traffic signals at the 76 Ave/Gateway intersection and build the bike lane east of 100 St until it reaches 96 St.

 

[BASE]

I like the idea although is the city allowed to expropriate CP lands? Could a road just be built overtop which also helps maintain the right of way for future trains (ideally of the passenger variety)?

 

[archited]

I would envision the extended 76th Avenue corridor as a dividing line between redevelopment of the current CPR land to the north in the mode of the Old Strathcona precinct (this is where I had envisioned the rebuilding of the Tegler Building would have a positive impact on Old Strathcona) and a super concentrated Tech Hub to the south with a mainstay High Speed Rail (whether rail or hyperlink doesn't really matter) also to the south of 76th Avenue. 76th Avenue from Sherwood Park to the River Valley and from the River Valley (primarily along 87th Avenue) to Enoch would become a major transit corridor and a true MUP with an elevated transit system -- designed in the idiom of "steampunk". The route would then be anchored by a rebuilt Sherwood Centre on Wye Road in Sherwood Park at one End and the Enoch River Cree Resort on the other end with important points of intersection being SouthEast Industrial, Weir Industrial, King Edward Park, Mill Creek Ravine, Ritchie, Old Strathcona + Tech Centre (CPR lands), Queen Alexandra, Belgravia, North Saskatchewan River Valley, the Valley Zoo, Laurier Heights, Meadowlark Shopping Centre, Misericordia Hospital, WEM, Belmead, and River Cree. LRT Transit connections would include WEM, Meadowlark, 149th Street, McKernan/Belgravia Stn., and 83 Street (Valley Line South). In my mind this would be much more sane than a BRT route through Old Strathcona.

 

[thommyjo]

There is a better solution -- expropriate land from CPR to punch 76th Avenue through from 99th Street to Gateway Boulevard. It would have the added benefit of forcing CP to focus on its unimproved, underused land that once was its mainstay rail yard. Put a BRT there. Don't further stress Old Strathcona with a high volume transit run through its very heart.

Yes. Let’s run BRT….6 blocks away from the main street.

For thinking I’m ageist, you sure aren’t helping out our elderly friends or anyone with accessibility challenges.

How about cars can go there since many are simply using whyte to “get through”, and actual whyte can be for transit, biking, walking and people.

 

[archited]

^^^^ You are ageist -- you constantly prove it! And I am working with the City on an alternate solution for transit in Old Strathcona -- can't talk about it just yet. And BRT does not mean eliminating other transit options for your info -- it is a form of rapid transit that is intended to blow through neighborhoods at speed with very few stops.

 

[Avenuer]

I like the idea although is the city allowed to expropriate CP lands? Could a road just be built overtop which also helps maintain the right of way for future trains (ideally of the passenger variety)?

Nope, the COE has no power to expropriate any CN or CP lands due to Federal legislation, so they'd have to wait for CP to agree to sell.

 

[The_Cat]

I think 76 Avenue is too far south for an east-west route. Perhaps a bypass to 99 Street from Gateway Boulevard.

 

[archited]

76th Avenue is only 6 "short" blocks south of Whyte Avenue (which translates into 3 "long" blocks). BRT will kill Old Strathcona just as it has with districts in other North American Cities. Why would we want that? The City can work with CPR to create a through-street -- the problem here is that CP is headquartered in Calgary and the Principal there is not much interested in Edmonton nor is he in any rush to transform their old rail yard lands in E.

 

[archited]

This is the sort of "steam-punk design" that I envision for 76th Avenue(South Side)/87th Avenue(West End) that employs small 12-person cars that are propelled by LSM actuators on an elevated two-car track, remotely controlled from a central location. Cars can be daisy-chained to any length desired.
The end-of-route station (one in Sherwood Park; one at Enoch's River Cree) would also be elevated with elevators and enclosed stairs bringing passengers to ground level.

The elevated track would allow for the bottom of cars to be a minimum of 5 meters above grade...

Why "steampunk"? The line would run through several varieties of neighborhoods from retail/hospitality-dominant commercial areas to industrial, to warehouse, to single family residential, to river valley expanses, across LRT lines and major traffic arteries, well separated from the street below. The ride, similar to what was envisioned vista-wise with the ill-fated Gondola, would offer views across the urban spectrum in the Edmonton idiom. Steam-punk then has a kind of historical feel, a kind of industrial feel, and with small cars a kind of colloquial feel that best suits all of the "moods" of Edmonton.

The cars can travel quickly from station to station serving rapid transit, while colloquial in scale they would also feel friendly to riders.

 

[Seamusmuldrew]

There is a better solution -- expropriate land from CPR to punch 76th Avenue through from 99th Street to Gateway Boulevard. It would have the added benefit of forcing CP to focus on its unimproved, underused land that once was its mainstay rail yard. Put a BRT there. Don't further stress Old Strathcona with a high volume transit run through its very heart.

Light Blue: Noneya business
Dark Blue: Main source of commuting traffic in the area
Red: Residential density and entertainment of the area
Yellow: Where the rapid transit ought to go
Seems logical to me!
I agree that CP hogging the 76th corridor is ridiculous and that it should go through the yards. I don’t think that the aim is to add rapid transit to the already existing traffic, I think it’s to reduce the capacity for private vehicles on Whyte and to improve service on and incentivize using public transit.

 

[itom987]

I would rather have the Edmonton radial railway operate a tram down Whyte Ave. instead of BRT.

 

[thommyjo]

^^^^ You are ageist -- you constantly prove it! And I am working with the City on an alternate solution for transit in Old Strathcona -- can't talk about it just yet. And BRT does not mean eliminating other transit options for your info -- it is a form of rapid transit that is intended to blow through neighborhoods at speed with very few stops.

”working with the city”? As in spamming an intern’s email with google sketchup designs?

BRT can have various designs. Dedicated ROW and more frequent stops in busy corridors is also a form of BRT.

 

[buildings]

my eyes fell out of my head when I saw those "steampunk" designs.....hell to the no; might look ok as part of WEM galaxyland

 

[archited]

Dedicated ROW and more frequent stops in busy corridors is also a form of BRT.

Have you even stopped to consider what "rapid" means in a district that is already highly pedestrianized and where vehicles of all types are casually connected to the community. It is not only a BAD idea -- it is ludicrous on every level. I am not surprised that you are in favor, however -- seems like the kind of thing that would appeal to you.

 

[thommyjo]

Have you even stopped to consider what "rapid" means in a district that is already highly pedestrianized and where vehicles of all types are casually connected to the community. It is not only a BAD idea -- it is ludicrous on every level. I am not surprised that you are in favor, however -- seems like the kind of thing that would appeal to you.

Dedicated lanes vs being stuck in traffic makes a bus much more rapid. They don’t always need 10 blocks inbetween stops.

5min frequencies. Dedicated lanes. High quality stops. That would be BRT. And that’s what whyte ave needs vs 15-30min frequencies on buses stuck in traffic.