yeggator
Active Member
You could also just park at Davies. It’s free.
Valley Line LRT/ Valley Line West | ?m | ?s | City of Edmonton
- Thread starter Daveography
- Start date
J_gordo
Active Member
Here are some photos from the west leg, building on what ‘the cat’ mentioned. I’m not entirely convinced that MIP will lift the girders for the AHD bridge by the end of the year, seems like lots of work needed on both abutments. The first 2 straddle bents for the miz station are done, they should start erecting those segments next week. Also I’d say 75-80% of the piers are completed. They have also started on the mechanically stabilized earth at the start of the east portion of the guideway.
The_Cat
Senior Member
Meow!
ChazYEG
Senior Member
It's a 15~20 min drive for me, from the far SE corner of Summerside. Easiest place to park for me would be MWTC.
In general, I'll use the LRT it I'm going during the day, and drive if it's a night out. For people closer to the stops, might be 100% worth it to use the LRT under most circumstances, tho.
It also expanded my potential search area for a new place to live when I leave Summerside, so that's good. I don't want to ever be further than 10min walk from an LRT stop again
whattheheck
New Member
VL review, after taking it several times:
the good:
- trains are sleek and cool looking on the outside.
- station integration into neighbourhoods is nice; easy on, easy off.
- it's interesting to see it 'stop' at major intersections, thereby allowing vehicle traffic to not get backed up. a transport system should be integrated and not put one form over the other.
the bad:
- at the same time, stopping at major intersections if quite annoying as a passenger; once the train picks up some kind of momentum, you slow down! grrr!!!
- overall, it's too slow. the 90 degree turns at Strathearn and Mill Woods are painful. And even on the 75/ 66 street straight-way, vehicle traffic is going faster than the train!
- the inside of the trains are too cramped. in the 2x2 seats, it's really just made for skinny supermodels. not well thought out.
- too many stops. (adding to the 'slowness') the Misericordia stop, for example, isn't needed as the Mill Woods stop would suffice. The Quarters stop is also not needed (at this time). I'm on the fence about both the Woodvale and Avonmore stops.
- the Churchill stop is woefully inadequate for the role it's expected to play as an interchange. When VL west opens, that will become painfully obvious. There are going to be way too many people and the congestion will add to the 'slowness'.
- the design plan should have called for a fence of some kind at the stops to separate the tracks, so people don't cross on the tracks.
- it's too easy, based on the design, for people to simply not pay. billions have been spent to build this thing, and it's so very important to ensure that only paying passengers get on board.
- this thing is not built for the future. The Capital line went from 3 to 4 to 5 cars during peak rush, as demand picked up, and even then when the trains pulled into south campus (before the pandemic), there would be no room. the VL can't be expanded beyond the two cars. i can't for the life of me understand why future-proofing wasn't a part of the plan.
Overall, if the VL is great for anyone who lives close to a station and works along the line or goes to post-secondary at NAIT or MacEwan or in the future, Norquest. (For U of A students, I'm not sure. Why, if you live south of the river, would you take the VL to Churchill, only to head south again on the Capital line?)
On the other hand, for the casual user, the VL doesn't make sense. For example, going to a concert or hockey game is still more attractive taking the private auto. Two non-regular ETS users would have to pay $14 in fares and take a train that's slower than the private auto. With the private auto, I'd have much easier mobility, and private parking rates are pretty competitive! (and unlike the old coliseum, with multiple ways to get in/ out of DT, there isn't much traffic congestion before/ after arena events.)
overall, a 6/10. it could have been so much better. low floor systems should not be both a neighbourhood connector and suburban people mover.
the good:
- trains are sleek and cool looking on the outside.
- station integration into neighbourhoods is nice; easy on, easy off.
- it's interesting to see it 'stop' at major intersections, thereby allowing vehicle traffic to not get backed up. a transport system should be integrated and not put one form over the other.
the bad:
- at the same time, stopping at major intersections if quite annoying as a passenger; once the train picks up some kind of momentum, you slow down! grrr!!!
- overall, it's too slow. the 90 degree turns at Strathearn and Mill Woods are painful. And even on the 75/ 66 street straight-way, vehicle traffic is going faster than the train!
- the inside of the trains are too cramped. in the 2x2 seats, it's really just made for skinny supermodels. not well thought out.
- too many stops. (adding to the 'slowness') the Misericordia stop, for example, isn't needed as the Mill Woods stop would suffice. The Quarters stop is also not needed (at this time). I'm on the fence about both the Woodvale and Avonmore stops.
- the Churchill stop is woefully inadequate for the role it's expected to play as an interchange. When VL west opens, that will become painfully obvious. There are going to be way too many people and the congestion will add to the 'slowness'.
- the design plan should have called for a fence of some kind at the stops to separate the tracks, so people don't cross on the tracks.
- it's too easy, based on the design, for people to simply not pay. billions have been spent to build this thing, and it's so very important to ensure that only paying passengers get on board.
- this thing is not built for the future. The Capital line went from 3 to 4 to 5 cars during peak rush, as demand picked up, and even then when the trains pulled into south campus (before the pandemic), there would be no room. the VL can't be expanded beyond the two cars. i can't for the life of me understand why future-proofing wasn't a part of the plan.
Overall, if the VL is great for anyone who lives close to a station and works along the line or goes to post-secondary at NAIT or MacEwan or in the future, Norquest. (For U of A students, I'm not sure. Why, if you live south of the river, would you take the VL to Churchill, only to head south again on the Capital line?)
On the other hand, for the casual user, the VL doesn't make sense. For example, going to a concert or hockey game is still more attractive taking the private auto. Two non-regular ETS users would have to pay $14 in fares and take a train that's slower than the private auto. With the private auto, I'd have much easier mobility, and private parking rates are pretty competitive! (and unlike the old coliseum, with multiple ways to get in/ out of DT, there isn't much traffic congestion before/ after arena events.)
overall, a 6/10. it could have been so much better. low floor systems should not be both a neighbourhood connector and suburban people mover.
Gronk!
Senior Member
I took the Valley Line LRT this afternoon. I caught the train from the 102 St station and rode it all the way to the Millwoods station (with a lunch break at Bonnie Doon Mall), wandered around MWTC for a bit, then grabbed another train at the Millwoods station and rode it back to the Churchill Connector.
The train was a tad slower compared to the traffic on 75 Street but not snail-like by any means. There were a couple of traffic stops but it only took as long as 20 seconds to clear the traffic so that the trains can start moving again. There was a long wait at Davies until a train arrived from the other direction, and there was another long wait at the Millwoods station. The views from Davies station, Connors Road and the Tawatina Bridge were spectacular. The trains were spotlessly clean although there was no new car smell. The trains were crowded but overall the passengers were satisfied. The stations looked fine, especially the Bonnie Doon station. I liked the artwork at the stations - my favorite art pieces were the drunk reindeer at the Avonmore station. My ARC card worked flawlessly and I even convinced some guy at the Bonnie Doon station to buy a card.
The train was a tad slower compared to the traffic on 75 Street but not snail-like by any means. There were a couple of traffic stops but it only took as long as 20 seconds to clear the traffic so that the trains can start moving again. There was a long wait at Davies until a train arrived from the other direction, and there was another long wait at the Millwoods station. The views from Davies station, Connors Road and the Tawatina Bridge were spectacular. The trains were spotlessly clean although there was no new car smell. The trains were crowded but overall the passengers were satisfied. The stations looked fine, especially the Bonnie Doon station. I liked the artwork at the stations - my favorite art pieces were the drunk reindeer at the Avonmore station. My ARC card worked flawlessly and I even convinced some guy at the Bonnie Doon station to buy a card.
archited
Senior Member
Importantly, was your camera/phone employed in any spectacular views being recorded?
Gronk!
Senior Member
Sadly I wasn't able to employ my mobile due to the crowds on the trains. Maybe next time.
archited
Senior Member
crowds good/no pics bad.
dkazzed
Active Member
First, shoutout to the amazing butter chicken at Davies Coffee & Convenience. Would be better if they provided naan bread, and small cafe tables to sit down and eat.
The east lot was somewhat busy on Friday. Does anyone have any insight to Tuesday to Thursday?
The bigger west lot seems less busy. It’s also less convenient to access for those coming from 75 St. It’s a shame they couldn’t provide direct left turn access into the lot.
The east lot was somewhat busy on Friday. Does anyone have any insight to Tuesday to Thursday?
The bigger west lot seems less busy. It’s also less convenient to access for those coming from 75 St. It’s a shame they couldn’t provide direct left turn access into the lot.
whatchyyc
Active Member
Unless you're as dumb as me and miss the first sign while an articulated bus blocks the second
Some red paint would easily solve this issue for other dunces
Train is great though
Gronk!
Senior Member
I'm curious to know how many people took the Valley Line LRT for tonight's Oilers game plus recent concerts by Burna Boy, KISS and Shania Twain.
thommyjo
Senior Member
Do they have live data anywhere for the LRT? I know the bike counters are live data.
Kosy123
Active Member
Funny you mention that, I actually took the train downtown around two hours before the Shania Twain concert just to walk around and it seemed there were some concertgoers as passengers. Still mostly families and younger teenagers though!
I sound like a broken record on this but the Valley Line has been such a substantial downtown vibrancy booster, even on weekends. Street/LRT facing retail should be a conversation that should happen sooner than later imo.
TAS
Senior Member
I imagine if an Oiler took the LRT to Roger's on game day like Nylander sometimes does in Toronto, it could boost our ridership as well 
For those without X, a reporter asks Nylander if he took the subway to the game and he answers yes saying he hates being stuck in traffic and sitting in the car for 45 minutes.
For those without X, a reporter asks Nylander if he took the subway to the game and he answers yes saying he hates being stuck in traffic and sitting in the car for 45 minutes.