The_Cat
Senior Member
I think one factor in the Ellerslie decision had to be the LRV vehicle facility. More trains will be needed.
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LRT Expansion Planning
- Thread starter Daveography
- Start date
Pro.N
New Member
As a biased NW resident, I'm going to counter this lol.
Ward 2/3 + St. Albert encompasses 200K+ people. LRT and better transit options to the North West should have been prioritized 5-10 years ago. I feel like the growth North of 167 Avenue from 50th street to 142 street, mirrors that of the SW, the City just doesn't care about the North (insert Game of Thrones related North neglect content here). Poor transit decisions have literally turned dense neighbourhoods in the North West into more car centric developments.
An important factor that gets glossed over is that the NW already has an existing student/working age population! Ellerslie already has direct 10-15min transit connections to Century Park!
There has been little to no major public transportation infrastructure upgrades in the last 20-30 years, aside from 3 new Transit Centre buildings and the Bus Network Redesign. Even with the Bus Network Redesign, the new routes to downtown or the nearest LRT station still takes 30-40 min during peak times. You gotta factor in 30-40min extra just to get to a place from where you can get to where you actually want to go.
This isn't frustration at this point, this is apathy towards a system that doesn't even factor in the North in their planning decisions. I think the Metro Line extension video itself was probably the most exciting LRT development that the NW has seen in years lol.
CplKlinger
Senior Member
No kidding, I don't get why they split the expansion into two parts (excluding Blatchford). I wish they'd just bite the bullet and take it all the way to Campbell Road at once. I mean, thr Valley Lines Southeast and West are each larger than the extension to campbell road, and now work is happening on both of them at the same time. So why not just do the entire Metro Line extension while we're already doing part of it?
Gronk!
Senior Member
As mentioned before, CN Rail is holding things up with the Walker Yard overpass
CplKlinger
Senior Member
If you're responding to me, I did make that distinction in my comment. I just don't get why they don't combine phases two and three pf thr extension, so that once they're going over Walker Yard, they continue all the way to Campbell Road.
Gronk!
Senior Member
I wonder what the hold-up is with CN Rail. Could it be the bridge structure? Trains? Cargo size? Workers being able to come and go? Construction activities on the bridge? Pedestrians/bike paths on the bridge? Timelines?
occidentalcapital
Senior Member
Is CN rail actually doing this? Is there anything public from the City or CN about this?
Foolworm
Active Member
The same reason that the South extension was split into Heritage Valley and 41 Ave SW perhaps?
The_Cat
Senior Member
I wonder if part of it has to do with the Yellowhead construction. Will the south pier be built north of the realigned Yelllowhead?
Glenco
Senior Member
My understanding is CN will not negotiate until funding is in place. There is no money for this project.
Edmcowboy11
Senior Member
That could be the biggest hurdle, CN putting this project in their queue of projects that may not be overly important to them.
I really want to see that extension.
I really want to see that extension.
IanO
Superstar
A few oldie but goodies
issuu.com
Prepared for Edmonton (Alta.) - 1968 - Public transportation in Edmonton (1968-01-10)
A.K.A. "Bakker Report"
Foolworm
Active Member
It has been mentioned elsewhere, but this is the interim (2030 horizon) mass transit network plan:
The re-inclusion of NWLRT to Castle Downs was not in the original image, I edited it in.
The proposed BRT routes can be divided into peak hour (97 St, Whyte) and all hour (Terwillegar/Fox, Gateway) bus lanes.
If it seems modest keep in mind 2030 is only 8 years away, which means any additional projects have to break ground in the next year or two to be in service by then. That's why NWLRT was left out in the first place -- with Edmonton getting short shrift in the recent provincial budget, I doubt it will be extended beyond Yellowhead this decade.
The re-inclusion of NWLRT to Castle Downs was not in the original image, I edited it in.
The proposed BRT routes can be divided into peak hour (97 St, Whyte) and all hour (Terwillegar/Fox, Gateway) bus lanes.
If it seems modest keep in mind 2030 is only 8 years away, which means any additional projects have to break ground in the next year or two to be in service by then. That's why NWLRT was left out in the first place -- with Edmonton getting short shrift in the recent provincial budget, I doubt it will be extended beyond Yellowhead this decade.
CplKlinger
Senior Member
I'm not sure if the NW peak hour route will go ahead, since it was meant to be a placeholder for the Metro Line extension. Someone else pointed out that we weren't likely to hear about any Metro Line funding in the budget since City Council hasn't officially requested anything yet. You raise a very good point, but since they made the deliberate decision to put it back in the plan, I'm hopeful that the fall budget will include something tangible!
And if the UCP was willing to approve the VLW extension soon after getting into office (even while stonewalling Calgary's Green Line), I think they'd be even more open to this since next year is an election year. I know this is Edmonton and everything, but infrastructure jobs are still pretty darn tempting for governments. Especially when the alternative is getting lambasted by the opposition for torpedoing those jobs.
EdwardEdm
Active Member
Pardon my ignorance, but why do we think the NW BRT would be peak only?
Keep in mind that the Terwillegar/ Fox Drive, 97 St, and Whyte Ave bus lanes/ BRT overlap with EMTSC routes. I don't believe at this point that the EMTSC shows a route down 153 Ave, but certainly 97 St they do, and it seems to be an all day route. Surely a LRT precursor service would provide all day service?
Regardless, I figure there's a lot more to come with the EMTSC in relation to these routes.