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LRT Expansion Planning

I think it will take a lot of planning for the Central Circulator. Many of the houses and other buildings are heritage sites.. Also, there are many trees on Whyte. While the location of the bridge across the North Saskatchewan is up for debate, I was thinking of something like this:

(1) The Central Circulator starts at Whyte and 83 Street (at the centre of the street). If there's a shortage of space on Whyte, the South Service Road can be eliminated to become part of Whyte. The first stop is at 91 Street (Gaboury Station).

(2) The line continues west across Mill Creek (new bridge), The upward slope of Whyte will allow the line to go underground (at 96 Street). Tunnelling could start at 97 Street, as the line goes west.

(3) The next stop (Strathcona) could be built at between 101 and 102 Street (about 160 metres between blocks). The entrances could be on the sides of 101 and 102 Streets, or in the middle of Whyte Avenue (like the proposed Griesbach station). This stop would also be in close proximity to the Gondola and proposed HSR station.

(4) The line can continue west to the next station at 106/107 Street (Garneau). The station would be in close proximity to the South Park apartments and other high density locations.

(5) The line can continue west and turn north at 112 Street and emerge north of 84 Avenue. A possible station at Health Sciences.

I'm not sure of the direction from here.
Keep it going west to 87 Avenue across the river and to WEM. I know it's probably getting really annoying to see me parrot this on the forums all the time but it would be so nice to have a direct connection between the university area and the West End.
 
Someone posted this map in the RMTransit Discord server. It shows what the LRT system will look like once the currently planned expansions are completed (thus excluding the regional connections and the most likely cancelled centre line). So, it's a great visual for what our system will hopefully look like in the next couple of decades :)
View attachment 357847
I cant be the only here who is strongly against and extremely frustrated the capital line getting an extension south to Ellerslie/heritage valley, before other areas much more centrally located get lrt service. Why are we prioritizing building to areas of the city that are borderline at city limits, in areas where density is about as low as it gets in the city. correct me if im wrong, but it seems like the capital south extension is on track to be completed before the metroline to casltedowns.
 
The Capital Line extension is shovel-ready, has a major hospital under construction, and takes the LRT that much closer to the international airport. The Metro Line to Castledowns (which includes a big bridge over the Yellowhead and the CN railyard) hasn't been funded yet apart from ongoing construction to the Blatchford stop.
 
I cant be the only here who is strongly against and extremely frustrated the capital line getting an extension south to Ellerslie/heritage valley, before other areas much more centrally located get lrt service. Why are we prioritizing building to areas of the city that are borderline at city limits, in areas where density is about as low as it gets in the city. correct me if im wrong, but it seems like the capital south extension is on track to be completed before the metroline to casltedowns.
The city likes to pick at low-hanging fruit. As necessary as the Metro Line extension is, it's very technically challenging.
 
The city likes to pick at low-hanging fruit. As necessary as the Metro Line extension is, it's very technically challenging.
the longer the city takes on these projects, its only going to get worse in the meantime. Seems like theres a lot of issue in the city regarding transportation, density and sprawl that need to have the bandaid ripped off. There cant be many people with a planning background that think the city is in a good spot right now, yet like you said, we are still building to incentivize further sprawl and build LRT where its easiest (low hanging fruit).
 
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The city likes to pick at low-hanging fruit. As necessary as the Metro Line extension is, it's very technically challenging.
I don't think it's because the south expansion is low-hanging fruit. If I recall correctly, work on the Metro Line extension wouldn't be able to commence until around a year after the south expansion can, even if it were fully funded today. That is chiefly because the city does not yet have an agreement with CN regarding the bridge over Walker Yard. We've now seen that work can occur on two lines at the same time, so I think it makes sense to fund the shovel-ready extension now, and then secure more federal/provincial funding for the north one while this behind-the-scenes stuff is already going on anyways.
 
I think the tough thing about any part of Edmonton north of the Calder Yards is that there are only three major accesses between Fort Road and St. Albert Trail. Any bike access is also through tunnels or under bridges. The bridge over the rail yards will be another major access, even if it's for LRT.
 
I think looking to the south line sooner than later helps keep the momentum of overall LRT construction. I dearly would like to see not only the north line to St.Albert but also the first extension outside of Edmonton city limits into St.Albert., but in the meantime why not continue building where we can.
Anyways expanding south isn't promoting sprawl but acknowledging city growth. If the city doesn't want sprawl, it doesn't have to approve new developments.
 
I cant be the only here who is strongly against and extremely frustrated the capital line getting an extension south to Ellerslie/heritage valley, before other areas much more centrally located get lrt service. Why are we prioritizing building to areas of the city that are borderline at city limits, in areas where density is about as low as it gets in the city. correct me if im wrong, but it seems like the capital south extension is on track to be completed before the metroline to casltedowns.
I think you are partially wrong and partially right.

The new suburbs have a relatively high population density compared to many 1970s, 80s, and 90s neighbourhoods/areas. They are not "low density". They are vehicle dependent at present. Going south makes sense and helps to capitalize on the density that exists and reduce the car dependency. Also supports the eye-popping population growth in the SW.
 
I think you are partially wrong and partially right.

The new suburbs have a relatively high population density compared to many 1970s, 80s, and 90s neighbourhoods/areas. They are not "low density". They are vehicle dependent at present. Going south makes sense and helps to capitalize on the density that exists and reduce the car dependency. Also supports the eye-popping population growth in the SW.
Makes sense, although I am not gonna lie that I'd love to see the Metro Line get expanded first (or soon at least). I couldn't care less for the south and SW, anyways... for reasons that are not necessarily rational, I just don't like going anywhere south of the Whitemud (or south of Argyll/63/Allendale, for that matter).
But from an impersonal perspective, it makes a lot of sense to go for a shovel-ready and already funded expansion first, keep the movement going...
 
Mind you, Griesbach, Castle Downs and other neighbourhoods near the Metro Line also have higher density developments.
Even the old/mature neighborhoods of the area: Calder, Rosslyn, Kensington and Lauderdale, are denser than most modern (1990s onward) suburbs, with smaller lots, less front/backyard and quite a few row houses.

This, and the fact that it will essentially link to St Albert, which has good, solid plans for their LRT, linking to the Metro Line (and with good funding perspectives, considering how much money that city has), should be enough to propel this line's extension to move faster.
 
Ellerslie is massive and has a large student population aging towards university. This line should help serve that and relieve a greater proportion of traffic than the north extension would.

I understand the frustration though for north side residents. Different parts of our city have received greater attention at different times. The last 2 decades have been the SE, SW and West it seems with major new developments, rec centers, more new schools, and the valley line.

Core neighbourhoods are starting to get more attention though. Strathcona and downtown have got a good amount of projects recently and I suspect the next "ring" of central neighbourhoods will get more attention this decade vs Ellerslie, Lewis estates, Riverbend.

Do you all think the St Albert piece plays into things at all either? Would them amalgamating help the use case? Not sure building an LRT out to their border makes sense, depending on funding, if they aren't contributing at a city level.
 

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