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LRT Expansion Planning

Not sure where to put this, but someone on Reddit wrote up an interesting post about their 'dream' rapid transit network. What do you folks think about it? It's not mine, but I'd still love to hear some thoughts on it.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Edmonton/comments/m0rspe

LRT Map.png
Their proposed LRT routes.

"-Capital Line Extension (Blue) - Continues west down Jasper, north up 124th Street, and ends at Westmount Mall. All underground.
-Metro Line (Red) - Same as planned by the City of Edmonton minus a few stops on the south end of the line.
-Valley Line (Green) - Same as planned by the City of Edmonton.
-South Line (Yellow) - At-grade up Terwillegar Drive to McKernan/Belgravia, underground from Health Science to 75th Street, at-grade into Sherwood Park.
-Downtown Connector (Orange)
-Convert the historic streetcar line into a real part of the transit system.
-Install modern streetcars and build out actual stations along the line.
-Connect to the Capital Line, Jasper Ave, and Alberta Rail Transit Station"

Alberta rail:

"-Provincial passenger line that uses old rail lines.
-Edmonton's station is at CPR Irvine -- the former rail yard south of Whyte that is currently empty -- which still has a rail corridor running south through the city towards the airport and could realistically accommodate a station of this sort in a pretty central location.
-Edmonton Irvine - Edmonton Airport - Red Deer - Calgary Airport - Downtown Calgary"

BRT Map.png
Their proposed BRT routes.

"BRT network would use a system of dedicated bus lanes/bridges and traffic light priority.
-Orange Line (Northwest Circulator) - Starting at Clareview station, the line runs along 137th Ave, down 170th Street connecting to WEM, then down 87th Ave connecting to the University at Health Sciences.
-Red Line (North-South Express) - Runs downs 97th Street. Just south of 111th Ave it turns onto 101st Street with a stop between at 110a Ave. Continues through downtown on 101st and diverts off Bellamy Hill Road onto a dedicated BRT road through Rossdale and across the river connecting to Tommy Banks Way/102 Street. Includes a stop just north of Whyte and at the Alberta Rail Transit Station. Continues south either along the rail corridor or Calgary Trail (got lazy at this point tbh).
-Green Line (East End Connector) - Runs down 75th Street connecting Coliseum to Davies Station.
-Yellow Line (Downtown-East Express) - Runs along 98th Ave from Sherwood Park to Downtown.
-Blue Line (South Side Connector) - Runs along 23rd Ave connecting Mill Woods to Terwillegar with stops at South Edmonton Common and Century Park."
 
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CplKlinger said:
Not sure where to put this, but someone on Reddit wrote up an interesting post about their 'dream' rapid transit network. What do you folks think about it? It's not mine, but I'd still love to hear some thoughts on it.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Edmonton/comments/m0rspe

View attachment 304613
Their proposed LRT routes.

"-Capital Line Extension (Blue) - Continues west down Jasper, north up 124th Street, and ends at Westmount Mall. All underground.
-Metro Line (Red) - Same as planned by the City of Edmonton minus a few stops on the south end of the line.
-Valley Line (Green) - Same as planned by the City of Edmonton.
-South Line (Yellow) - At-grade up Terwillegar Drive to McKernan/Belgravia, underground from Health Science to 75th Street, at-grade into Sherwood Park.
-Downtown Connector (Orange)
-Convert the historic streetcar line into a real part of the transit system.
-Install modern streetcars and build out actual stations along the line.
-Connect to the Capital Line, Jasper Ave, and Alberta Rail Transit Station"

Alberta rail:

"-Provincial passenger line that uses old rail lines.
-Edmonton's station is at CPR Irvine -- the former rail yard south of Whyte that is currently empty -- which still has a rail corridor running south through the city towards the airport and could realistically accommodate a station of this sort in a pretty central location.
-Edmonton Irvine - Edmonton Airport - Red Deer - Calgary Airport - Downtown Calgary"

View attachment 304612
Their proposed BRT routes.

"BRT network would use a system of dedicated bus lanes/bridges and traffic light priority.
-Orange Line (Northwest Circulator) - Starting at Clareview station, the line runs along 137th Ave, down 170th Street connecting to WEM, then down 87th Ave connecting to the University at Health Sciences.
-Red Line (North-South Express) - Runs downs 97th Street. Just south of 111th Ave it turns onto 101st Street with a stop between at 110a Ave. Continues through downtown on 101st and diverts off Bellamy Hill Road onto a dedicated BRT road through Rossdale and across the river connecting to Tommy Banks Way/102 Street. Includes a stop just north of Whyte and at the Alberta Rail Transit Station. Continues south either along the rail corridor or Calgary Trail (got lazy at this point tbh).
-Green Line (East End Connector) - Runs down 75th Street connecting Coliseum to Davies Station.
-Yellow Line (Downtown-East Express) - Runs along 98th Ave from Sherwood Park to Downtown.
-Blue Line (South Side Connector) - Runs along 23rd Ave connecting Mill Woods to Terwillegar with stops at South Edmonton Common and Century Park."
Click to expand...
I'd just end the capital line at Telus World of Science, instead of Westmount Mall, but this whole thing pretty much summarizes my dream transit network

Edit: I'd also have the current streetcar line extend all the way up to MacEwan University and intercept the Valley Line as well, it would essentially be a link between all of the main lines in the system.
 
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While I think the short/medium term priority should of course be densification and expansion of the network within the city limits, I'm always fascinated by the idea of building a network of longer distance commuter railways to places like Leduc, Fort Saskatchewan, and Spruce Grove/Stony Plain. Something like the RER in Paris or Thameslink in London.

Another fascination of mine is streetcars/trams. I think a lot of the central/mature neighbourhoods could use a system more dense than the current full-scale LRT network provides, and it might help to increase densification and renewal efforts in places like Alberta Avenue or McCauley. Sometime soon I will post a "masterplan" of what I imagine it could look like, complete with LRT, Commuter Lines, and Streetcar network.

I'm a big believer (perhaps despite economic realities) that buses are best used in a suburban setting, where a certain level of flexibility is needed more, and passenger volumes are (usually) less, whereas the central core should ideally be largely reserved for pedestrians, cyclists, and public transportation.
 
Macroman520 said:
While I think the short/medium term priority should of course be densification and expansion of the network within the city limits, I'm always fascinated by the idea of building a network of longer distance commuter railways to places like Leduc, Fort Saskatchewan, and Spruce Grove/Stony Plain. Something like the RER in Paris or Thameslink in London.
Click to expand...
I agree, Edmonton is definitely going to need a regional rail network at some point in the future, especially when it comes to the kind of LRT network we're building out. I don't mind the low-floor street-level style of LRT, but a distance as far out as Lewis Farms is probably at the edge of what it can serve well if not pushing it a little imo. Tbh, if I was my age now back in 2009-10 when they were making these decisions about Edmonton's future rapid transit (I was literally in kindergarten), I would've probably advocated against low-floor LRT and pushed for a higher-capacity light metro option (like the Skytrain), but in the end I'm okay with how things are going.

Macroman520 said:
Sometime soon I will post a "masterplan" of what I imagine it could look like, complete with LRT, Commuter Lines, and Streetcar network.
Click to expand...
I also have a few concept maps I'm working on for those types of networks, and I'd say the coolest thing I've come up with is a large underground station beneath city center mall east (which would be converted to the main concourse of the station), where regional and intercity trains like the future HSR would all meet. "Northside" services would go through tunnels under downtown and emerge in existing/old rail corridors nearby and "Southside" services (including HSR) would go onto a 4-track bridge emerging from under Telus/ATB place, cross the river and go back underground in the area of Nellie McClung park. A possible underground Strathcona station could be built as Edmonton's second main station. From there trains would move onto an expanded southside rail corridor and continue their journeys.

Macroman520 said:
Another fascination of mine is streetcars/trams. I think a lot of the central/mature neighbourhoods could use a system more dense than the current full-scale LRT network provides, and it might help to increase densification and renewal efforts in places like Alberta Avenue or McCauley.
Click to expand...
I love the idea of streetcar networks in older areas like you mentioned 😁
 
IanO said:
Click to expand...

Ideally, I think the Lewis farms-Sherwood Park line should be a direct link between Misericordia and Health Sciences Lrt Station, taking the line through Laurier Heights and over the river to directly link up with Health Sciences.

This would introduce extremely fast travel times between Bonnie Doon, Whyte, and UofA to WEM and the west side. I imagine this option was debated by the planning team? The cost estimates must have been much higher as I do recognize that river crossing would require quite some engineering to figure out. Not to mention NIMBYS in Laurier Heights would be mortified.

Just looking on a map it seems like the perfect opportunity though, 87 Ave has almost perfect alignment with 82 Ave across the river.
 
goodcitywhenfinished said:
Ideally, I think the Lewis farms-Sherwood Park line should be a direct link between Misericordia and Health Sciences Lrt Station, taking the line through Laurier Heights and over the river to directly link up with Health Sciences.

This would introduce extremely fast travel times between Bonnie Doon, Whyte, and UofA to WEM and the west side. I imagine this option was debated by the planning team? The cost estimates must have been much higher as I do recognize that river crossing would require quite some engineering to figure out. Not to mention NIMBYS in Laurier Heights would be mortified.

Just looking on a map it seems like the perfect opportunity though, 87 Ave has almost perfect alignment with 82 Ave across the river.
Click to expand...
LITERALLY. run the train down 87 ave from the Mis, zigzag through laurier heights, across the river, and into a short tunnel. surface by the Jube, lil chicane over to Whyte, and onwards to Bonny Doon and Sherwood park. It's pretty much a straight line. Idk what this loop thing is, it looks overly complicated, and the route it creates could be achieved with a transfer or two. anywhoodle. sorry. I think i've been thinking the same thing as you. I really hope our next line (after Metro Line to Cambell, Capital to Heritage and Gorman) would be to see a connector/relief line like that run down Whyte.
 
cliffapotamus said:
LITERALLY. run the train down 87 ave from the Mis, zigzag through laurier heights, across the river, and into a short tunnel. surface by the Jube, lil chicane over to Whyte, and onwards to Bonny Doon and Sherwood park. It's pretty much a straight line. Idk what this loop thing is, it looks overly complicated, and the route it creates could be achieved with a transfer or two. anywhoodle. sorry. I think i've been thinking the same thing as you. I really hope our next line (after Metro Line to Cambell, Capital to Heritage and Gorman) would be to see a connector/relief line like that run down Whyte.
Click to expand...
The loop is the future Centre Line.
 
cliffapotamus said:
LITERALLY. run the train down 87 ave from the Mis, zigzag through laurier heights, across the river, and into a short tunnel. surface by the Jube, lil chicane over to Whyte, and onwards to Bonny Doon and Sherwood park. It's pretty much a straight line. Idk what this loop thing is, it looks overly complicated, and the route it creates could be achieved with a transfer or two. anywhoodle. sorry. I think i've been thinking the same thing as you. I really hope our next line (after Metro Line to Cambell, Capital to Heritage and Gorman) would be to see a connector/relief line like that run down Whyte.
Click to expand...

The movers and shakers (including a couple former mayors that live there) will never let that happen. That would be a NIMBY shit show..
At one point it was discussed tunneling under both Laurie Heights & Windor Park from U of A when WLRT was being discussed, but that idea was shot down quickly due to costs
 
Are there still plans for LRT expansion into Sherwood Park. I thought Sherwood Park rejected the regional transit bill essentially killing any chance of getting LRT in the near future. I really hope not as I live in SHPK and would absolutely love to have and LRT connection. It's very frustrating that Strathcona County sees a project with massive potential long-term gain and the second they see a little bit of inconvenience, NIMBYism and the Sherwood Park superiority complex (It's really bad here) kicks in and they crush it.
 
Avenuer said:
Was the Centre Line. It is axed in the City Plan (not shown on any of the maps).
Click to expand...
Huh, it's interesting that the page wasn't updated accordingly. Is the plan just for all of the lines to converge at Churchill Station, rather than the station connector being in addition to a line?
 
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