Stadium LRT Station Redevelopment | ?m | ?s | City of Edmonton | GEC

Went down to the station tonight to peoplewatch (I live in the area and was EXTREMELY bored... this happened in lieu of a healthy hobby) and watched the new station handle some crowds. the peace officers were directing everyone on the platform to the north ramp exit, keeping the south exit empty. (the staircases closed about a month ago, and are now just holes in the platform with rebar in them, so a concrete slab can cover them up completely)
I think only using one ramp was to prevent crowds from taking the south ramp and wandering into the bus parking. the sidewalks etc here haven't been redone, and the path to the crossing as it exits now is circuitous and not well-marked, and the shortest path is through the buses. whatever the reason, entire trainloads were being sent off the single central platform (the new West one is not ready yet) down a single ramp.
And it seemed to be working decently! It was obviously squishy, people were walking slow because of all the fencing and hoarding and odd paths, but you could see the crowd file down the ramp relatively comfortably, essentially the same mass of people that had been on the platform all shuffling down as a unit. even with everyone having to wait for the crossing gates to go up so they could actually exit, I bet the platform was cleared as fast if not faster than with the old staircases. I think with both ramps going, even just off the central platform, the station will function much better.
 
I took these pictures on August 11th. The new platform is coming along well.
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Trains are running on BOTH tracks through the station as of today. with the second track open, (hopefully permanently this time) i think services on the line as a whole will get back to following a schedule, not the 6-7 minute delays on a 15-minute-frequency that we've been having, to accommodate the single track. Living with that irregular service has been brutal. Watching a train pull up on the East track was a genuine shock, and I was so happy to see it!
Also, with the new track comes the first East-side crossing, meaning there will be a pedestrian access point to the platform from 84th street opening soon. At the South end of the platform, the crossing arms are in, and the concrete was poured over the weekend. I think we might only be a week or so away from that opening! The North East access is nowhere to be seen still.
With access to the platform from both sides a fast-approaching reality, the days of the underpass, and any visible elements of the original station, are numbered. I haven't seen any closure notices for what is now being referred to as the pedway (the original underpass concourse) but why keep it open to the public if the public doesn't need it anymore? Anyways, i pass through any time I have an excuse to do so; and on one of those trips recently I noticed this on the wall. It feels so strange to think that this original station, which we are now viewing as old and inefficient was once the pride and joy of Edmonton's architectural scene (at least according to this plaque lol) I mean, given what was happening at the time, and that it had to contend with an active freight line (isn't that why it had the underpass?) it really is a cool building. Anyways, just thought i'd share. Plaque is located on the wall in between the two construction access points (where the halls to the south stairs used to be) on the south wall of the pedway. about halfway through the building, across from where the elevator used to be.

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Worked well getting off but getting back on people didn't move into the centre and it really messed things up flow-wise.
 
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Stadium station. Never realised how much landscaping they were doing on the southeast side of the tracks and I hope that's what they'll be doing on the northwest side of the tracks too.

Now that I've got a good look at the station, it's safe to say that if we wanted to build a commuter rail connection from the CN mainline to downtown, it'll be nearly impossible now. The station has eaten through most of the ROW.
 
^Great shots!

This is a whole topic onto itself, but I always thought that the old Cromdale Yard would be a decent place to have a commuter rail station if you were to use the CN mainline. Sure, it's not downtown, but it's extremely central, right near an existing transit station, has plenty of room to build on top of, and along a stretch of the RoW that's still mostly intact.
 
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