It’s time to talk options for the North Central light rail transit (LRT) route. The project team has narrowed their focus to the two highest-ranking alignment options: Centre Street North (at street level), and Edmonton Trail (at street level). Now we’re asking Calgarians what they think. Join us for these upcoming open house events to learn more about the top two route options, ask questions of the project team, and share your thoughts and ideas about which option you like best.
Public Open House
April 29th, 2014
Ascension of our Lord School
6pm – 9pm
Public Open House
April 30th, 2014
Thorncliffe Greenview Community Association
6pm – 9pm
Is there no option to have an LRT above street-level? Frequent incidents with pedestrians and traffic are the biggest cause for transit delay. Frankly, as a transit user, I could care less which street is used, so long as the track was raised enough to avoid being involved in traffic.
ReplyDeleteAbove, or below ground....it's obvious street level causes traffic / pedestrian / transit problems, especially during peak hours.
DeleteI agree ...just tell me why it can not be above ground
ReplyDeleteOne reason to have it at street level: Increased accessibility of users. One of the new raised stations (Sunalta) is 87 steps off the ground and reliable access for some users depends on the elevator, which is out of service often enough for it to be a very real issue.
ReplyDeleteThe original design called for the LRT station at Sunalta to be 6 storeys, not 4 (as built). The only reason for the lower station, was the neighbourhood of Shaganappi put up a HUGE fight NOT to have the LRT go over Crowchild Trail, but under. This is why you have the dip going west out of Sunalta Station, and how Shaganappi saved their DT views. Also, Sunalta community is being severed yet again, as the area going North from Bow Trail to the river (Greyhound, Pumphouse Theatre and Car Dealerships) is to become "West Village". The Sunalta station will eventually have a much wider bridge/promenade that will lead North into that Community (the current bridge to the Greyhound Depot from the station). So much for history in this city (Scarborough was originally a part of Sunalta, and hence why Sunalta school seems misplaced!). I prefer "cut and cover" over an elevated line. My only consolation, is that you cannot see the Sunalta station looming over the community from my house, because of its lower-than-originally designed height.
DeleteCalgarians are very fiscally conservative, so if they were presented with an option of, say, 100 million or 200 million and the only distinguishing factor was that it was raised above street level, the majority of people would go for the cheaper option. Some may disagree, but that's how democracy works folks.
ReplyDeletealso the cost for above street level and below street level are explosively expensive in comparison.
ReplyDeleteAnother potential issue with above ground tracks and stations is cost. It would be ideal as it does not interfere with traffic and such, but the cost is considerably more than street level tracks.
ReplyDeleteWhat about a tunnel into the hill with subway stations along the route?
ReplyDeleteoh great a faster easier way for the homless to come into our neighbourhoods and drugies picking up their products fml keep the lrt off of centre street!!!!!!! or there will be a huge comunity fight on
ReplyDeleteHow do you even justify that position? Calgary's homeless rate comparatively low, and nobody cares about your precious suburb.
Deletehow are you going to get the lrt yo centre street hill in the winter on those tracks with such light rail power?? looks like edmonton trail is a better bet
ReplyDeleteCentre Street may as well be the thoroughfare. It would replace the BRT and existing infrastructure.
ReplyDeleteSo, Calgary is supposed to be this awesome city with huge income and budgets, yet it's too expensive to have the LRT above ground?? Calgary and Alberta has much more money than Vancouver and BC, yet the latter has an excellent above ground LRT system that is safe!
ReplyDeleteafter enduring 3 years of road construction on Centre street, I am saying ANY other route would be preferred.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with you! There is NO room on Centre St to the LRT. What a nightmare that would be!
DeleteThe majority of cities around the world have it built either above ground or below. Nowadays rarely you can find it on the street level due to the traffic delay. I understand that Calgary has a fairly conservative community, but this is 2014 really. Can someone who will be there for the open house raise the question of PROS & CONS by having it above or below. I would like to hear their perspectives on both options. Thanks and highly appreciated.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm just pointing out the obvious, but the low points of Edmonton Trail flood. Plus, there's no population in walking distance on the east side of half Edmonton Trail route because of the Deerfoot
ReplyDeleteThe NW line uses 9A Street instead of 10th to avoid the obvious traffic problems. Centre and (to a lesser extent) Edmonton Trail are already congested for many hours a day. Why are these two major arteries the only choices??
ReplyDeletePeople should work where they live. Stop wasting money on trains!
ReplyDeleteNot productive to the conversation
DeleteI agree the cost is an important factor. However, street-level track will always cause delay. The opportunity cost (shuttle bus, user's time, traffic jam) is more than above or below ground level track in long term. Good examples are 36st in NE and downtown. Another factor is accessibility. If the LRT is not reliable (delay becuase of sharing the raod with traffic), I believe the users will use other methods to commute regardless of accessibility. (Crowchild Trail). Since Center St and Edmonton Trial are already busy roads. Street-level track on these road will turn into another "Crowchild" and eventually cost Calgarian more money to expand the road network. - University of Calgary Civil Engineering Student
ReplyDeleteThe Centre Street route provides more people with more walkable access to the train....there aren't many people that live in Confluence Park ...let's keep it a green space along West Nose Creek....plus less chance for wildlife hits...
ReplyDeleteAbove ground: You will lose valuable lanes on Centre Street or Edmonton trail (picture losing two lanes for the LRT). Street level access: Will the access be from the centre of the street or the side walk? Calgary is still a car dominated City. Traffic issues (and there will be issues). Increased pedestrianization of the public realm (ie. street level benefits from increased pedestrian traffic, visibility, etc)
ReplyDeleteBelow ground: increased costs up front, reduced traffic issues (free flowing traffic along two of calgary's busiest arterial/major roads, less delays (only in regards to street level user conflicts. We all know there will still be signal issues, etc. but this is minor). Speed is a major trade-off. Suburbanites can get home faster.
The list goes on and on.
CM
Agree with the one on Center Street!!!
ReplyDeleteAbove street level is the way to go. Forward thinking people. Putting it ground-level is not forward thinking. Yes, may cost more now, but will pay dividends in the future.
ReplyDeletecalgary transit should take a hard look at how vancouver uses their transit system and model the same type here, a train every 6-8 minutes, all bus stops have digital monitors on them to let you know how long a bus is going to be and if it doest you can TEXT it.. which is never over 10 minutes, heated stalls and every stop has a cover on them so you don't get soaked.. c'mon calgary, even winnipeg has better transit. I've never been so aggravated with public transportation, and lets face it waiting for a bus in the far stretches of calgary for 45 -1 hour is retarded and time consuming, not to mention the hilled areas in the nw. people who work till 2-3 am should be able to get home safe on transit and not have to pay a tonne of money for a cab, and its ludacris that most busses in the northern and southern parts of the city stop running before the train does. I don't know about the rest of calgary, but for someone who is on low income, works 15 hours a day and has to walk home in -40 sometimes at 2 am, isn't something i want to do or anyone to do.
ReplyDeleteWhy are we putting in so much money for this there was talk before a few years back of the train system between Calgary and Edmonton why don't we put the funding into that all this going to do is put lots of traffic on the streets of downtown. for that area we are considering building in buses are available and its within a 10 minute walking distance of the other train line
ReplyDeletehttp://www.calgarytransit.com/pdf/Final%20High%20Level%20MAE%20Report.pdf
ReplyDeletepersonalized helicopter shuttle service would probably make more sense than putting it on street level and likely cost less...
ReplyDeleteHey, has anyone considered doing this as a loop, rather than side-by-side? It would be less disruptive to traffic that way (use only 1 of 4 lanes each direction). Use lane reversal during rush hour to balance out heavy traffic times. Just a thought from someone in the neighbourhood ...
ReplyDeleteI realize that Calgary always goes with the least amount of money up front (that much has been PAINFULLY obvious within infrastructure issues, etc). While I understand what's appealing about that immediate choice, what's unfortunate about that poor choice, is that every time they spend less up front to cut INITIAL cost, they have to spend wayyyy more money later on to deal with the issues they could have avoided, using some long term vision and a few extra dollars up front. Redoing things over and over and over... ultimately ends up costing more by way of time, money, frustrating disruption and widespread issues, than choosing the potentially better choice that takes a little more effort and cost up front. Is Calgary ever going to figure that out? Here's hoping... ground level is so not a good choice, regardless of where it is. Have we not realized that by now? Can we please learn from what we've done already and what other cities have successfully implemented for years...?
ReplyDeleteThere is NO room on either Centre Street or Edmonton Trail for the LRT!! Both of these routes get congested enough, with just regular traffic! WHY is the city not considering running the LRT parallel to the CP Rail tracks along Deerfoot Trail? There is lots of room, and plenty of space for stations and parking areas!
ReplyDelete