City eyes cheaper ‘expressway’ model for Terwillegar
Plan could be quicker, cheaper than freeway concept for Terwillegar: report
Edmonton could save nearly $1 billion by keeping traffic lights on an upgraded, four-lane Terwillegar Drive and leaving the long-promised freeway design on the shelf.
With a $300 million “expressway,” Edmonton could carry the same amount of traffic, at least until 2030, said city officials in a report released Tuesday. It would not include flyover ramps but would still have increased speed and capacity for commuters.
The upgrades with the most impact could be done in just four years for $100 million.
But that’s only if Edmonton steps away from the dream. Geographic constraints in the corridor mean the free-flow freeway option is expected to cost $1.2 billion and take from 20 to 30 years to complete. Plus, there’s no federal funding and little provincial funding available.
When the news broke on social media, some commuters were outraged, accusing Edmonton of cheaping out again.
But Ward 9 Coun. Tim Cartmell called it “a path forward that could see shovels in the ground in the very near future ... Some residents have already been waiting 30 years.”
Cartmell campaigned last year on getting a freeway built. At that time, he and city officials thought upgrading the 40 Avenue-Terwillegar Drive intersection was the first step. They thought it could be done for $35 million and the city could work southward with improvements from there.
But those preliminary estimates were flawed, said Cartmell on
Tuesday. Because the intersections on Terwillegar Drive are so close together, a freeway design that maintains all points of access and allows free flow would require enormously complicated weaving bridges.
“It’s bridges on top of bridges,” he said.
That means the cost was also wrong. The interchange at 40 Avenue and Terwillegar Drive alone would cost more than $110 million, said Cartmell, and would simply move, not relieve, the congestion.
The expressway option, however, could see the entire stretch of road from Anthony Henday Drive to Whitemud Drive widened for approximately the same price.
The Terwillegar-Riverbend area has been waiting for a freeway for decades and suffers from congestion because there are so few routes out.
Choosing an expressway over a freeway has other benefits, said city branch manager Jason Meliefste. The absence of complicated on-off ramps leaves space for bus-rapid transit stations and a bus-only lane.
It would also leave space for a multi-use path, which would cross Whitemud Drive at the longplanned 142 Street pedestrian bridge and connect to the river valley.
But the city has not made a decision, Meliefste said. “The report is about providing information.”
His team will present it to council’s urban planning committee on Oct. 2 and is recommending they take the findings back to the community for another round of consultation.
Both the expressway and the freeway would reduce congestion, saving commuters three to four minutes during the morning and afternoon rush hours, said Meliefste. By 2050, the freeway option would have shorter commute times than the expressway by about three minutes during the morning peak, when measured from Anthony Henday Drive to Whitemud Drive.
But it’s hard to rely on predictions for 2050 when self-driving vehicles and other technology are changing so quickly, he said.