Greyhound considers moving operations south to 75th Street
Company faces 2016 deadline to shift terminal
Greyhound is looking at moving its bus terminal and maintenance yard to a site on 75th Street beside the future Davies LRT station.
The city suggested Greyhound consider using the land because it must vacate its downtown terminal by May 2016, regional vicepresident Peter Hamel said Tuesday.
“There’s an existing building there and some property they’re not sure exactly what phase of the development it will be used for,” he said.
“They asked if it was something that would interest Greyhound.”
About five hectares south of Wagner Road, which now houses Osman Auctions and Union Tractor, was bought by the city for the Valley Line LRT a few months ago.
Greyhound is applying to rezone its maintenance facility at 12521 123rd St., north of Yellowhead Trail, to handle passengers, but that proposal has stirred opposition.
Residents and other businesses in the area worry about increased traffic, narrow roads and difficulties reaching the location by public transit.
The possibility of Greyhound going somewhere else is good news for Dennis Dale, owner of Wayne Building Products, which is located beside the maintenance yard.
“I think that would be great for Greyhound, great for their customers … and good for their freight as well, because they have road access all over there,” he said.
“All the businesses in the Hagmann industrial park are really supportive of them going to the south side.”
While Hagmann isn’t the company’s preferred choice, it’s still a possibility, and other options are also being considered, Hamel said.
The 75th Street location offers better transportation and would let the company redevelop the Union Tractor building, but there’s still lots of work to do, he said.
This includes environmental testing to determine whether there’s any contamination, he said.
“We have to take a look at what’s there and see what the city is proposing to offer us as a potential deal.”
The Valley Line, scheduled to start construction in 2016, is expected to have parking and room for redevelopment around the Davies station.
Scott Mackie, manager of current planning, said the layout could be reconfigured if they reach a deal for Greyhound to use the site.
One downside is that a bus operation would block other transit-oriented development on the land, he said.
The city has worked with Greyhound on its relocation plans for at least 18 months, considering about 30 other potential sites.
The 75th Street idea came up fairly recently, Mackie said.
“I can’t tell you if there’s going to be enough room for Greyhound or not. What we’re doing is looking at what might work there.”
The current terminal is expected to be used for a condo tower across the street from the new arena.
Ideally, the company would move to the south side, possibly Calgary Trail, because half its scheduled runs are on the Edmonton-Calgary corridor, Hamel said.
However, land on Calgary Trail is expensive, and there isn’t enough space to expand at the existing south depot, he said.
He wants to make a decision soon.
“I think we need to be looking at being into the ground at any location by spring … Time is of the essence.”