At a City Council meeting Wednesday, nearly 50 speakers signed up to tell councillors their thoughts on planned LRT lines in Edmonton.
City officials have been working on plans for the Valley Line into west Edmonton and the Metro Line extension to Blatchford for years. The last time they were updated was in 2011.
As construction work on the project nears, planners are recommending some changes.
The biggest item would add about $500 million to the cost of the Valley Line, which would keep the train above traffic past West Edmonton Mall, over 178 Street.
In another section of the line, traffic would be routed underneath the tracks at 149 Street, but about 20 businesses in the area would have to be demolished to make way for the line.
Calvin Fehr manages a pub, one of the businesses that would be impacted by the LRT route.
“They said they were going to do the LRT going to the west end, I’m like ‘Oh great I can get to work fast, it’s comfortable, not packed’, then I find out, they’re going to put an underpass and destroy [my] business,” Fehr said.
Fehr was one of the speakers who signed up to speak Wednesday.
“I think we’ve been heard, what they do is another thing,” Fehr said.
City staff want to make changes to other parts of the line as well, including changing how the train turns south near the old MacEwan arts campus and increasing the number of park and ride stalls at Lewis Farms.
Meanwhile, some individuals who spoke Wednesday would like to see the entire line redesigned.
“Looking at the amendments at the intersections is a bit like putting a Band-Aid on a severed leg,” Glenora resident Susan Maw said. “We the people know that this is the wrong place for the train, we know there’s a better route.”
However, Councillor Andrew Knack said that discussion as already been settled.
“I’m not looking to reopen the route debate, that was settled a decade ago,” Knack said.
As for the Metro Line, city staff want to keep that plan as is – to keep the existing track the same, with a five car platform in Blatchford at the end of the extension.
The line travels through the intersection of 106 Street and Princess Elizabeth Avenue to the temporary station at NAIT.
As part of a review, staff suggested three alternatives: an elevated crossing, a re-aligned LRT with a new station about 150 metres south of the existing crossing, or a trenched tunnel.
“What’s going to be the performance of that extension in lieu of what we already have,” Councillor Mike Nickel said. “I’ve said it before, fix the one you’ve got, finish the one you have and then talk about extending LRT.”
Despite the alternatives, staff decided to stick with the initial design.
Deadline looms for Thales on Metro Line repairs
As for the issue-riddled Metro Line, a deadline is looming for Thales, the company charged with fixing an ongoing signaling issue on the line.
Thales has until the end of April to repair the line – fixing issues that have been ongoing since the line opened more than two years ago.
“Testing continues, and until we’ve seen the results of the testing – I know everybody is working very hard – but until we see the results of all of the testing, it’s premature to speculate about where we’ll wind up,” Mayor Don Iveson said.
The City has promised serious consequences, but has not said publicly what they would be.
The line opened in September, 2015, almost two years behind schedule.
With files from Jeremy Thompson
