I don't see the BRT system as a LRT precursor but rather as a secondary network in the mass transit system. Also keep in mind that regional routes are considered elsewhere; this particular diagram is really just to show the City of Edmonton's transit priority corridors.
You're right actually, I misremembered what the report said. Here's what it says about the NW BRT route (B1):
B1 Route (BRT): Campbell Road – Castle Downs District Node – Century Park District Node
B1 is a proposed semi-exclusive transit route that will operate north-south from the Castle Downs district node to the Century Park district node in its ultimate configuration. This route will serve the following nodes and corridors: Northgate/Northtown, 97 Street, Centre City, Whyte Avenue, Gateway/Calgary Trail. The route would primarily utilize 97 St, 101 Street and Gateway Boulevard/Calgary Trail.
The B1 service would stop every 1 to 1.5 km along its route and provide connections to numerous other elements of the mass transit network as well as the underlying network of other bus transit services. This adds significant north-south high-capacity frequent service to denser parts of the urban area. In the section north of 118 Avenue, B1 would operate in parallel with another rapid service, E2 (ETS #110X), which would provide additional capacity on this busy section of the transit network. E2 was assumed to connect to Eaux Claires Transit Centre while B1 stopped nearby at 153 Avenue and 97 Street. These assumptions should be revisited to determine the optimal stopping pattern for the services in the 97 Street corridor. In its early stages of implementation, a ‘B1A’ extended service would continue onwards as a rapid bus using the mixed traffic lanes of 153 Avenue, making limited stops until a terminus at Campbell Road. This will provide service in northwest Edmonton and connect to numerous regional routes at the St. Albert transit facility. By the 1.5 Million horizon, once the Metro Line is extended west past Castle Downs, route B1 would be shortened and Castle Downs would become its north terminus.
In its interim state, this route will make use of dedicated bus lanes covering the maximum extent feasible. For 1.25 million, it is proposed that the bus lanes extend:
● North-south on 97 Street during peak periods in the peak direction (as a minimum);
● North-south on Calgary Trail and Gateway Boulevard, once implementation has been
worked out for stop locations and operations at connecting streets and major
commercial driveways;
● East-west on 153 Avenue to connect to Castle Downs hub, during peaks, and similarly
east-west on 23 Avenue to connect to Century Park.
In addition to these areas where bus lanes are proposed, transit priority measures may also be considered where warranted to mitigate speed and reliability issues, in particular for limited-stop buses to avoid long queues and delays at signals with lengthy peak-period cycle lengths. This guidance would apply to all other routes in the semi-exclusive family in addition to transit hotspots identified through travel time performance monitoring by ETS. This route proposes a dedicated river crossing in the long term (by 2065); however, for the 1.25 Million horizon it is assumed that route B1 would repurpose some of the capacity on existing bridges to carry the route between the downtown hub and the Whyte Avenue district. Near-term options include the Low Level and Walterdale Bridges and connecting streets. The details of this section of the route will require more detailed analysis and will also reflect other projects in the vicinity, such as River Crossing.
Also, the Health Sciences station isn't going to be the permanent Metro Line terminus:
To the south the proposed longer-term service will be South Campus station, to provide capacity relief for the Capital Line. However, due to significant challenges in grade separating at University Avenue/114 St, the interim terminus for the Metro Line will be at Health Sciences station. It is anticipated that the implementation of other capacity relief measures (such as route B6) could provide future flexibility (post-1.25 million) to address this location
