Officials reopen most public transit washrooms, add mobile facilities

Most public washrooms in Edmonton transit hubs shuttered in early March have reopened, and the city is adding up to a dozen more mobile washrooms around the city.

On Monday, Edmonton Transit Service (ETS) opened washrooms in 10 centres and LRT stations. Up to 12 mobile washroom stations will also be installed this month in high-traffic areas like parks, business districts, and near outdoor events, starting this week.

Washrooms in 16 of 18 transit centres have been closed since March 7 after a city council decision meant to curb drug-poisoning deaths in “high risk” locations. These facilities are opening in phases, beginning with Northgate, South Campus, Kingsway, Castle Downs, Meadows, Lewis Farms, Heritage Valley, Clareview, Southgate and Central LRT station.

Stations will have more security, along with hourly wellness checks, increased cleaning, sharps disposal containers, and posters with information on overdoses and where to get help, according to the city. By the end of May, all transit security guards will also be trained to use Naloxone. Motion detectors may be installed in the future.

Trevor Dennehy, director of LRT operations and maintenance, said opening washrooms in phases allows the city to test out its new measures.

“The primary reason for closing the washrooms was to prevent drug poisoning and drug overdoses that were occurring behind closed doors. That was the reason why they were closed, was for that safety reason,” he told media on Monday.

Opening the washrooms will also make the stations cleaner, he said.

Changes come as the city is facing criticism about safety on public transit, and as harm-reduction advocates warned closures won't reduce overdoses. Despite criticism, Dennehy said closing these facilities for nearly two months wasn't a mistake.

“We wanted to address the problem that was happening, and now that we have additional safety measures in place, our plan is to open them up,” he told media Monday.

Of the 10 transit stations opening, only one is downtown. Dennehy that's because the city decided to start with sites deemed to be a “lower risk” with lower amounts of vandalism and social disorder.

The Central LRT station isn't

The primary reason for closing the washrooms was to prevent drug poisoning and drug overdoses that were occurring behind closed doors.

one of those, but it's opening as well with a washroom attendant on-site.

“We intend to monitor that to see how effective the attendant is at reducing or hopefully eliminating drug poisoning, drug overdoses and vandalism,” Dennehy said.

Nicole Fraser, a supervisor with operations, planning and monitoring, said four new mobile washrooms downtown will help offset the continued closures of the downtown-area LRT stations.

These aren't accessible washrooms, Fraser said. But she said the city will replace some of the washrooms with more accessible ones, including ramps, at a future date.