Downtown LRT route may shift
Project faces delay as council committee agrees to move line to 103rd Avenue
After hearing concerns from community and cultural groups, a council committee has recommended the city shift the route of the proposed downtown LRT line, a move that could delay the project by up to a year.
Other potential changes discussed Tuesday by the transportation committee could add $70 million to $115 million to the project’s total cost.
Under the current plan, trains are set to run on 102nd Avenue from 107th Street to a tunnel entrance near 95th Street.
But Chinese groups and central Edmonton community leagues want the tracks moved to 103rd Avenue102A Avenue instead.
They argue that corridor will protect Chinese seniors living in facilities on the north side of 102nd Avenue, give them easier access to cultural buildings on the south side of the street, and will provide more development opportunities.
“I think the recommendation is a good one,” said Mei Hung, president of the Chinese Benevolent Association of Edmonton.
“That’s the route which we back as the right move, because when you design an LRT, you have to make sure it meets the needs of the community and development.”
Transportation planners have been sent back several times to talk to the public since complaints about the route and about insufficient consultation surfaced last spring.
Officials continue to insist the 102nd Avenue corridor approved by council in 2010 makes the most sense. They say it will best serve current transit riders, has the most redevelopment potential and strongly supports downtown growth, while using a different route will require up to a year of discussions.
Community groups are willing to see the low-floor, tram-style LRT cars travel on 102nd Avenue if the Harbin Gate is moved a block east, the tunnel entrance is moved a block west and the station is put underground.
Moving the station underground, with an estimated $60-million cost, would allow a covered outdoor Chinese market to be built in the alley between 102nd Avenue and 102A Avenue from 95th Street to 96th Street, the groups say.
Planners say the suggested addition of a station at 95th Street near Jasper Avenue would require an extra $70 million to $115 million for a larger bridge across the North Saskatchewan River and might eliminate the Muttart station.
“I think this is totally, totally the wrong thing to do,” Coun. Amarjeet Sohi told the transportation and infrastructure committee. “We have given approval to this (routing) bylaw twice.
“I think this is a mistake and we will pay by delaying the LRT for another two years,” said Sohi, who is not a member of the committee and therefore couldn’t vote on the proposal. The recommendation will go to city council Feb. 15 for a final vote.
The current schedule calls for preliminary engineering work to be finished next February so construction on the first southeast stage from downtown to Whitemud Drive can start in 2015, if money is found for the $1.4-billion project.
Mayor Stephen Mandel and councillors Jane Batty and Kerry Diotte voted in favour of the proposal to move the tracks off 102nd Avenue. Don Iveson voted against it. Linda Sloan, the other member of the fiveperson committee, was absent.