GOOD NEWS ON 50TH ST.

The Canadian Pacific Rail crossing on 50 Street just north of the Sherwood Park Freeway is so notorious for making motorists sit and wait in traffic, it has earned its own epithets.

One radio station has taken to nicknaming the trains that cross the street “the 50th Street Mascot.” Frustrated commuters complain on social media about #stupidtrain.

But it’s likely that many travellers stuck behind these frequent and maddening blockages simply use the direct phrasing adopted by Mayor Don Iveson when he posted a video from Singapore celebrating long-overdue good news about Edmonton’s worst traffic headache:

“Now we won’t have to wait for that (expletive) train anymore,” he said with a car horn bleeping out the appropriate adjective.

Iveson said aloud what many Edmontonians were thinking when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced nearly $40 million Tuesday to remove the at-grade rail crossing and widen 50 Street to six lanes between

76 and 90 Avenue.

The long-awaited federal cash, along with $28.3 million previously announced by the province and $19.4 million from the city, will pay for an $87.5-million project to improve traffic flow on 50th Street.

It’s for good reason that the crossing is at the top of the city’s priority list. Fiftieth Street not only provides access to local businesses and industrial areas, it functions as a major northsouth corridor for commuters and goods.

This isn’t about entitled motorists whining about a minor inconvenience. At most other rail junctions, drivers wait patiently for trains to pass, but this crossing ’s proximity to a rail yard means trains often stop on the tracks, or back up, tying up traffic and fraying nerves even more. That kind of inefficient and time-wasting delay just can’t be tolerated on a busy traffic corridor in a major centre of trade and industry.

“While it’s been great for commerce, it has admittedly caused headaches, delays and safety issues for folks living in and travelling through this city,” Trudeau said of the crossing.

“We’ve all seen the traffic backed up as the trains seemingly go on for hours. You feel the frustration when you’re late for work, late to appointments and late to pick up your kids.”

It’s a costly fix, there’s still no word on when construction will start and finish, and we don’t even know whether to expect an overpass or an underpass.

But those are issues for another day. Today is for rejoicing and looking forward to the day when we don’t have to wait for that train anymore.