Mill Woods plan includes patio-style bus terminal

Edmonton could see its first European-style bus terminal with a planned redevelopment of the Mill Woods Town Centre.

Think of sipping a cappuccino on a sunny patio as your bus arrives, or picking up a roasted chicken for dinner just steps away from your transfer.

Most Edmonton transit centres use small pedestrian islands surrounded by wide bus lanes and parking lots in a landscape dominated by concrete.

But here, tight space requirements and a developer hungry to take advantage of the new LRT line will give Mill Woods a more pedestrian-friendly design, planner Armin Preiksaitis, who is working on an area redesign for the developer RioCan, said Wednesday.

“(Edmonton Transit) was looking at this pork chop design that was eating up a lot of the land ... We were battling for a long time because we were looking at the development potential for this,” Preiksaitis said, describing an agreed-on new linear transit station fully integrated into a retail district and a pair of new high-rise towers.

Transit riders wait on a long, wide covered sidewalk between the shops and the buses.

The Mill Woods Town Centre redevelopment plan includes the mall and covers 25 hectares of land, which is larger than the similar Century Park site.

City officials are planning to move the existing transit station north when the LRT arrives, locating it about 100 metres from the LRT station on 28 Avenue. That leaves enough space for RioCan to build two 18-storey towers on either side of the pedestrian walkway, surrounded on the ground floor with shops and cafes to take advantage of the foot traffic.

That should make the transit centres feel safer and more comfortable, Preiksaitis said.

The rest of the redevelopment will be a mix of low- and mediumrise apartments, adding 1,750 units to the area, plus offices and stores, he said.

In the southeast area, they’re planning a green pedestrian street, wide enough to accommodate a basketball court. That would be open to the public but owned by the development company so it can use it to attract tenants and shoppers to the town centre.

Redevelopment will likely happen over 25 years, said Preiksaitis. The mall will remain as is for at least 10 years, but the towers near the LRT station could be built soon.

An open house organized by the city and developer is scheduled for Thursday from 4:30-8:30 p.m. at the Mill Woods Seniors and Multicultural Centre, 2610 Hewes Way.

Coun. Mike Nickel has been pushing for a park-and-ride in the area. He’s worried local neighbourhoods are already seeing “parasitic parking.”

But Preiksaitis said RioCan isn’t interested in building parking.

Michelle Ouellette, the city’s senior planner on the file, said there are other privately owned sites in the area that could be used for LRT parking, but the city is still developing its park-and-ride policy.

The Mill Woods Town Centre redevelopment plan includes the mall and covers 25 hectares of land.