Valley Line LRT/ Valley Line West | ?m | ?s | City of Edmonton

TAS said:
I don't think anyone is suggesting Hamilton should pay for all of it's $3.4b 14km LRT project that runs through the city.

I just thought it's interesting that Ontario seems to have a different set up where instead of having the costs of their LRT project split in different proportions between three levels of government, which has been the case in Alberta, their funding comes from two levels (and half from the feds) and in the case of Hamilton, nothing from the municipal coffers.

Perhaps they have a different tax structure or tax allocation system there provincially where cities aren't responsible for certain types of projects.
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I don't know the details, but I think it is correct there is some difference in the provincial tax structure that leads to this. I heard something mentioned about that before.

Also, I gather there is some local political controversy about the LRT approved and some people are not happy. The grass sometimes appears greener from a distance.
 
David A said:
I don't know the details, but I think it is correct there is some difference in the provincial tax structure that leads to this. I heard something mentioned about that before.

Also, I gather there is some local political controversy about the LRT approved and some people are not happy. The grass sometimes appears greener from a distance.
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yup. I've skimmed the Skyrise thread for this project a couple times ( i like to keep up with these things, also i think it's supposed to be similar in scale to the valley Line?) and the discussions they are having around this project are very similar to what Edmonton went through. My understanding is that they're still getting council approval for the project to go ahead, they seem to have a funding commitment from higher government but are missing stuff from the city and that's holding it up. there's the same NIMBYism happening around the tracks, a large contingent on council calling for BRT to save money, etc. the same conversations and capitulations Edmonton had to go through. But somehow the province is standing behind it all. I think that might be the big takeaway. Edmonton and Hamilton are seeing similar arguments, but Hamilton got funding beforehand, as opposed to Edmonton which (and I'm thinking of the Valley Line West specifically here) had those arguments pretty much resolved before any money showed up.
 
Also, on that note. I took the New 7 to Downtown from where I live (around 124 and Stony Plain Road). Even with the detours due to LRT construction, the trip took about 23 minutes each way, which accounting for time to park, is faster than taking a car. overall it was really pleasant, and a marked improvement over the 2-111-112 clownshow of all three buses running an almost identical route leapfrogging each other down the road as they all arrived at almost the same time. the single route seems to work pretty well, with better frequency too.
Despite this, there was the inevitable complaining that happens on the bus, about ETS.there was a senior citizen complaining about how the nearest stop to SPR on 149 was a block south of the intersection, making connecting difficult. (the official stop is clearly pre-BNR, so this issue existed before, but i digress) I can understand this, especially given she had issues walking. The driver stopped across the intersection for her.
What got me was the 3-4 minute timing stop conversation, where the driver and senior complained about the new routes, and the West LRT. how it should have run down 107 so they wouldn't have to close bus routes (dunno how that would have worked, the 7 i was on runs on 107) how 'it's gonna take 10 years to build" "who knows when they're gonna build it, it's just sitting there" etc. it was a very frustrating conversation to listen to. I was at the other end of the bus and not about to weigh in; but i really wanted to. those two knew absolutely nothing about what they were talking about.
It really got me, the complete lack of awareness about the project. It was the bus driver was the one who made the10 year construction comment, so apparently he isn't paying attention to a project that's gonna have a big affect on his career. It seemed like neither of them remotely followed the news about the project, but were perfectly happy to spend time bitching about it. I really wish Edmonton had a better culture of following civic news, and less of a culture of complaining about any sort of change or development. How the fuck are we supposed to grow if a decent chunk of the population think lane closures and a couple bus detours are worth cancelling an LRT project?
 
@cliffapotamus Yeah, I get ya man. I've found myself in that sort-of situation multiple times where someone talks about, for example, how much we don't need LRT/how busses are good enough (even though some of them haven't ridden a bus in like 20 years but let's not talk about that) or how they should've just made the whole thing underground, etc. In the moment want to debunk what they're saying so badly and explain why things like the LRT matter in the grand scheme of our city (and if we have time/they want to get into the conversation with me, I'll do it), but I often decide to just keep my mouth closed so we can move on with our day.
 
From yesterday:

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Wow, there's a shattered pane in the third picture already? How long has this been installed?

Typical for downtown I guess, can't have nice things without someone taking a bat to them...
 
Foolworm said:
Wow, there's a shattered pane in the third picture already? How long has this been installed?

Typical for downtown I guess, can't have nice things without someone taking a bat to them...
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Which one, bro? I don't see anything shattered, although it wouldn't have surprised me.
 
The_Cat said:
I saw some of the yellow LRT signs at the Mill Woods station. It's really coming along.
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What signs? Like the train arrival/departure displays?
 
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