Keep city core front of mind

Re: “Can the SE LRT breathe new life into old areas?” July 5 The city seems unable to make up its mind: Is the LRT to efficiently bring Mill Woods residents downtown, or is it to slowly serve neighbourhoods along the route?

If it’s the former, then as Alexandra Zabjek’s article notes, such attempts have failed in the past around Mill Woods Town Centre and Century Park. If it’s the latter, then this project is not fulfilling its mandate as Chinatown and the river valley will both be degraded without being properly serviced: The one Chinatown stop will be just 1.5 blocks east of Sir Winston Churchill Square, and there will be no stop at Shaw/Louise McKinney Park.

It is shameful Edmonton is willing to spend $1.8 billion and sacrifice the city core to push through a confused transit program. We need LRT that respects that core otherwise it perpetuates the problem of sprawl.

One potential solution that has received almost no consideration is BRT, bus rapid transit. For one-hundredth the cost, the city could implement hybrid express buses requiring no permanent infrastructure beyond bus stops. This system better fits Edmonton’s needs as a city with a wide river, a steep, unstable river valley and increased probability of flooding. And because it would be so much simpler and cheaper to implement, it could service Mill Woods and elsewhere much more quickly. With the enormous savings, it could be free — what better incentive to get people to use public transit?

Bogota, Colombia has already developed BRT in this way and it has been a success. Kris tin e Kowalc huk , Edmonton