Metro Line LRT | ?m | ?s | City of Edmonton

I am very happy to have this one put behind us.... what a debacle.
The signalling issue may or may not be 'behind us'. We'll see how it works. Hopefully the line speed increases, the traffic issues improve and intersections work better for everyone.

Frequency-wise, when the line reaches Campbell Road, I think we'll probably eventually need to grade-separate at least Kingsway/111 and possibly PEA/106.
 
A couple of photos showing the Metro Line extension into Blatchford. First one is looking west from 109 Street. Second one is looking southeast at what I believe will be the new NAIT station.

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Went for a drive this morning to see how the Valley Line is coming together. Looks pretty good, there were about 6 or 7 Flexities parked on the track along 66/75 St.

Anyways, I came home through the core and up through Kingsway/NAIT. The lights turned red as I was coming up Kingsway and the train came up from the south at what seemed to be a good speed into Kingsway/Royal Alex. Lights turned green, so I went up 106 to see how fast the train was running. I was going 50, the lights before the crossing turned red and the train came through, so it seems that they're running at a good clip now. Light turned green and I turned left onto PEA, and the crossing gates came down, the train that was at NAIT left the station, and that was it. It all seemed to be working well. I know mid-Saturday morning is not the best time of week to be gauging things, but it seems to be working much better now.

Anybody ride the train since the new signalling was switched on?
 
New NAIT station is starting to appear. it's around the corner from the current station. Also, it appears all of these fire hydrants will be right beside the line; from the best i can tell, the caternary pole bases line up that way.

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When are they building this extension? They're not going to fix the Kingsway intersection mess first? Or think they'll do that after the blatchford stops before they head way north?
 
When are they building this extension? They're not going to fix the Kingsway intersection mess first? Or think they'll do that after the blatchford stops before they head way north?
Kingsway fixes aren't in any official plans as far as i know. I'm sure it's been discussed but the main goal is getting service everywhere first. Kingsway is hundreds of millions to reduce traffic wait times, without bringing in any more riders.
This leg into Blatchford is being built earlier than it will probably be needed in terms of serving the immediate area, but it's being built now to get it ready for the jump across Walker Yard and onto Castle Downs and St Albert. that line is supposed to be the city's next big push; planning is mostly done, the goal is to have design etc shovel-ready for the next big round of provincial/federal funding, whenever that comes. (election 2023 maybe? hopefully?) basically this leg is needed for that major project, so it's getting built now so it isn't an obstacle later on, when go time arrives.
 
When are they building this extension? They're not going to fix the Kingsway intersection mess first? Or think they'll do that after the blatchford stops before they head way north?
The Kingsway / 111 Avenue intersection was looked at a couple of years ago after a Councillor asked Administration to provide a cost/benefit analysis for grade separation. The result was that the costs did not justify the reduction in traffic wait times at that time, but maybe that will change in the future as traffic levels grow in the area.
 
The Kingsway / 111 Avenue intersection was looked at a couple of years ago after a Councillor asked Administration to provide a cost/benefit analysis for grade separation. The result was that the costs did not justify the reduction in traffic wait times at that time, but maybe that will change in the future as traffic levels grow in the area.
Thanks for the info! It will have to change in the future, and I'm more worried about how much the frequency of the line could/will be limited in the future more than the car traffic. I also think more direct access to the RAH and Kingsway with pedways would be beneficial down the line
 
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in 38 million fewer transit trips in 2020 compared with 2019, a year-over-year decrease of 44.3%.

Edmonton transit reports ridership of 48,275,563 in 2020, down from 86,715,541 in 2019. Ridership fell to its lowest point in April 2020 with a 69.1% year-over-year decrease. May 2020 saw the fewest number of trips at 1.98 million.

The city says ridership is typically seasonal in Edmonton, with ridership highest between September and April when schools are in session and temperatures are colder.

Fare revenue in 2020 declined $66 million or 57% compared to 2019, though not all fare categories were affected equally. Sales of adult monthly passes declined 60.2% while sales of senior monthly passes declined just 27.1%. The city says this "indicates a level of reliance on transit for many of these riders." Fare collection was temporarily suspended between March 20, 2020 and June 15, 2020.

Stats
https://www.edmonton.ca/ets/ets-sta...420411302&mc_cid=c9576f619a&mc_eid=b81cde227f

Source
 

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