City councillors endorse Whyte Avenue LRT route, but question river crossing

Whyte Avenue will be the preferred route for a low-floor LRT on the south side, city councillors decided Tuesday, but they questioned whether the line needs to turn north and cross the North Saskatchewan River.

“Do we really need to close the loop?” said Mayor Don Iveson, suggesting transit riders walk from the end of a Whyte Avenue LRT to the existing University LRT station to get downtown.

That would be much cheaper than building a new bridge for a low-floor train across the river. The High Level Bridge is now too rusty to carry LRT and a new-style train could not use the existing high-floor LRT bridge. Council’s urban planning committee endorsed parts of the proposed route alignment, leaving the link into the university or across the river to be determined.

City officials said they will do further planning work with the University of Alberta and Alberta Health Services to finalize the rest of the alignment. Because of council comments Tuesday, they’ll now also look at the option of ending the line near the University LRT station, at least for the foreseeable future.

Council is scheduled to debate what next priorities should be for further design and construction sometime next year.

They’ve already committed to the west leg of the Valley Line LRT and an extension north for the Metro Line at least into Blatchford. The big debate will be on whether they build the Whyte Avenue connection, extend the Metro Line further or push the Capital line south to Heritage Valley.

Coun. Ben Henderson asked city officials to make it extremely clear that compromising historical buildings along Whyte Avenue should be considered a “fatal flaw ” to any design.

“Better to say that now than to say it later.”

Branch manager Jason Meliefste said they believe an LRT would take up roughly one-third of the width of the Whyte Avenue rightof-way.

The rest of the space would be assigned to a combination of patios, parking, vehicle lanes and sidewalks.

That would be determined through consultation with businesses and residents in the area.

The High Level Bridge troubles were only confirmed early this year.

An engineering study found some of 5,000 steel beams are so corroded they are only half as thick as they once were.

The heavy concrete foundations are also no longer strong enough to carry the weight of LRT trains in addition to a proposed new shared-use path

It was originally built in 1912 to carry freight trains. So even at its reduced strength, it is still safe to drive and walk across, said Meliefste.

Cherie Klassen, head of the Old Strathcona Business Association, said her members support the alignment.

They’re very worried about the potential construction impacts, and have additional concerns about the city’s ability to manage the project, the potential loss of trees and parking.

But long-term, “we need more transportation options.”

She said they also support council exploring a smaller-scale streetcar, the urban gondola project pitched to cross the river between Old Strathcona and downtown, and the High Level Line urban park idea along the existing streetcar line.