Traffic trumps pedestrians in LRT debates, resident says
Neil Carey is worried.
Every day, he walks his son to daycare and crosses the proposed west LRT extension at Stony Plain Road and 148 Street. That’s also the neighbourhood’s access to the river valley. But will he still be able to cross when the train comes through?
He’s struggling to get answers. “The conversation always turns to how is this going to impact traffic,” said Carey, a Grovenor resident who supports LRT but wants it done right.
Edmonton is on the cusp of approving the west leg of the Valley Line LRT — potentially the largest municipal infrastructure project in its history. It goes to public hearing Wednesday, with city council hoping for a provincial funding announcement Thursday.
But with debate focused on traffic, some worry questions on design, integration and redevelopment have been lost.
At each city-led open house, Carey said he asked about pedestrian impacts — about crossing the tracks on foot, how to get to the station, and how city officials can protect pedestrians when they’re planning for high-speed right-turn lanes. But he doesn’t see that detail yet.
“I feel like we’re missing out on the other goals of the LRT project,” he said, showing the narrow, noisy sidewalks of the detour. “I’m excited for (LRT) to be here. I just want to make sure it’s safe to get there.”
Council’s public hearing is meant to confirm concept-level plans for the route and determine where the track will cross intersections at street level.
A city spokeswoman said urban design will be similar to the Valley Line between Mill Woods and downtown. But no one was available for an interview. The project team turned down repeated requests last week, arguing they want to let the public make presentations to council before answering any questions.
Previously, west LRT project manager Eva Cheung said residents won’t be able to cross Stony Plain Road at every intersection as they do now. There won’t be fences, but it will be discouraged to ensure the safe operation of the train.
Ward 1 Coun. Andrew Knack said he’ll ask about urban design and limited street crossings Wednesday. “It feels like that part of the conversation has been a bit more of an after-thought,” he said Friday.
It seems odd not to let people cross the tracks informally, since they cross now with vehicle traffic, said Knack. “The LRT can stop faster than a bus travelling at the same speed.”
Asking people to detour, “in practice, that’s actually pretty onerous for pedestrians,” added Ward 5 Coun. Sarah Hamilton.
“The point of the low-floor LRT is to have seamless integration with the neighbourhood,” she said. They need to ensure that happens, which means having “some trust and confidence” the LRT will work as designed.
Knack said he hopes clear principals around pedestrian access can be written into the design and construction contract. Community stakeholder teams are already being set up so local residents can help ensure that’s being followed.
SIDETRACK PITCHED FOR BIKE LANE
Downtown, MacEwan University officials are also watching for how safe students will be crossing 104 Avenue. Associate vice-president of facilities Stuart MacLean said the avenue — currently a sixlane road — is a barrier for students heading south. But city officials haven’t released detail yet on how they will handle those crossings.
Instead, the new concept plan proposes a sidetrack to store extra LRT vehicles in the middle of 104 Avenue, between 109 and 111 Streets. The report doesn’t mention that’s where the 110 Street shared-use path crosses the avenue to connect to the new 105 Avenue bike path north of MacEwan University.