A councillor is hoping to bring transportation planning for a St. Albert LRT line to a screeching halt next week. Coun. Sheena Hughes has a motion scheduled for debate that removes the St.
A councillor is hoping to bring transportation planning for a St. Albert LRT line to a screeching halt next week.
Coun. Sheena Hughes has a motion scheduled for debate that removes the St. Albert LRT functional alignment plan from the draft Transportation Master Plan.
The draft currently includes the future LRT – forecast to be 20 to 30 years away – but starts planning for the changes that the approved alignment would impose on St. Albert's roadways.
The alignment involves possibly losing two lanes from St. Albert Trail.
Hughes said she wants to pull the LRT out of the draft plan for a few reasons.
Part of her reasoning includes the cost – with the line estimated to cost more than $1 billion to build and $13.3 million to run annually, according to the LRT functional alignment study approved by council in November. She suggested this could lead to massive tax increases, though how the LRT could be paid for and the revenue streams impact on operational costs haven't been made clear yet.
But the bigger reason is, when she reviews the appendices of the plan, she doesn't see a big enough impact on alleviating traffic congestion to be worth the trouble.
“Regardless of the cost of it right now, the LRT alignment is going to cause problems with the traffic situation and that's why it should be taken out,” she said.
She pointed to data in one of the appendices that suggested the overall impact of the LRT in St. Albert, in 2042, is estimated to drive a one per cent increase in transit usage.
The estimate along St. Albert Trail is that transit usage would increase seven per cent.
The same appendix forecasted that the LRT could improve travel time from St. Albert to Edmonton by 40 per cent when taking the LRT.
With the potential for a line running through St. Albert at least two decades away, it might seem too early to worry.
But Hughes said the LRT is built into the proposed transportation master plan.
“This is a long term plan … we start heading down this road and before you know it you're two-thirds of the way down and it's too late to turn back,” she said. “It's affecting our planning today on certain roads because we're expecting the LRT to come.”
Commuters divided on LRT future
Commuters who travel from St. Albert to Edmonton had varying opinions on the idea of an LRT system for the city when asked. The idea of an LRT through St. Albert has been controversial over the years, while the planned Campbell park and ride with hopes for a link to Edmonton's Metro Line seem more appealing to many.
“I've been waiting for it for 20 years,” said Ryan Bodnarchuk. He takes the bus to downtown Edmonton for work and finds that it works great during peak hours, but non-peak hours means less ideal routes and timing. If he has to travel during non-peak hours, he drives.
An LRT – whether just to the border of St. Albert, or through the city – would allow more schedule options for people trying to get to Edmonton, he said. He's in favour of either option, though he did note that adding an LRT along St. Albert Trail will change the traffic patterns.
Julie Therou used to take transit, but now drives to her job in downtown Edmonton. She'd be interested in an LRT being available as she prefers to take transit for the extra time it allows her to do work while travelling, as well as environmental reasons.
But with access to free parking downtown, it costs her less to drive at the moment than to have a transit commuter pass. She'd be interested in an LRT to the border with a park and ride, but wasn't sure about the idea of an LRT through the city.
“I don't think it would be utilized as much,” she said, adding her concern about LRT in or near St. Albert would be the cost to use the system.
John Kerby uses transit frequently both in and outside of St. Albert. He said in an email that he likes both the idea of an LRT stop near the south border of St. Albert as well as in town, as long as the latter connects into Edmonton's LRT system.
He also raised the issue of ticket prices in St. Albert, noting passes and fares are too much money for some already.
Antony Chiu uses transit as a “backup” plan, but if the LRT expands into St. Albert he'd consider taking it to work, though he's concerned it could also bring crime into the city.
However, if the LRT only comes to the south border of St. Albert, he'll skip the park and ride, “since getting to the planned park and ride will be 40 per cent of my commute.”
