The city will co-operate with Edmonton's plans to bring light-rail transit (LRT) to St. Albert's southern boundary, but that might be the end of the line if a recommendation by administration passes early next year.
Council approved three of four recommendations Monday night after almost 90 minutes of debate on the strategic direction for LRT presentation by planning and engineering general manager Guy Boston.
As passed, the city will now collaborate and financially support Edmonton's northwest LRT functional alignment study to a maximum of $122,000, the sum remaining in the LRT Task Force/LRT reserve. The city will also join with Edmonton to ask Alberta Infrastructure for access to surplus land in the transportation utility corridor (TUC) for the long-envisioned south transit centre/park and ride and a possible LRT station. A third approved recommendation calls on the city to co-ordinate passenger fares and transfers with Edmonton.
But a fourth motion that would effectively kill the expansion of LRT through to St. Albert's north end in the immediate future was postponed until January to give council more time to consider its ramifications. That recommendation called on the city to delete references to St. Albert's Transit Corridor Framework Study, a functional LRT alignment study, detailed LRT design and LRT construction to St. Anne Street from its GreenTRIP application for the second round of priorities.
"This is a very large issue," said Coun. Cam MacKay, who moved postponement, "The dollar value could range anywhere from $75 million to $750 million in costs. We need to consult with the community and find out if this what St. Albertans want or not.
"This is uncharted territory to have an LRT in a community of this size."
Consulting with the public could be equally problematic. Under questioning from Coun. Len Bracko, who wants to see the line extended right through St. Albert, Boston said any meaningful public consultation process would take at least 12 to 18 months to implement. A backgrounder on public consultation will be brought forward at a future council meeting.
At issue is how best to continue offering transit services to St. Albert residents. Of three options presented to council Monday night — bus only, mix of buses and LRT at the south transit centre or building the LRT all the way through St. Albert — administration recommended mixing bus use with LRT at the south transit centre.
"For St. Albert to realize this benefit in the future, interim steps must be taken now," the report clearly states.
Edmonton's lead
Edmonton is selecting a consultant to conduct a functional alignment study for the northwest LRT, which contemplates extending the line from NAIT to the TUC, likely ending in Castle Downs. According to administration, this study will confirm for St. Albert the size and configuration of the land required to build the south transit centre.
Once the northwest line — ranked third in Edmonton's list of LRT priorities — reaches the TUC, it would strike west towards St. Albert. But simply contemplating extending the line through St. Albert is costly. Administration estimates it would take $500,000 simply to examine how to build the line to the proposed north transit centre. The estimated cost of building actual LRT track is $100 million per kilometre, meaning building all the way to north St. Albert could cost as much as $750 million.
Coun Len Bracko, council's biggest proponent of extending LRT through the city, pointed out the city could realize some savings in the projected decline in bus requirements, from 90 vehicles to 26, to help fund some of the cost.
"There has to be some big savings if we have a lower number of buses and that could be put into the cost of operating the LRT," Bracko said.
Boston replied even the estimated $9 million transit budget, "wouldn't be enough to operate the LRT."
Council will revisit the GreenTRIP recommendations in January.
