If everything goes according to script, St. Albert’s annual park and ride war should be raging by this time next week when classes at NAIT, Grant MacEwan and the University of Alberta will be in full swing.
The start of classes at Edmonton post-secondary institutions typically means a space crunch at the Village Landing park and ride facility in St. Albert, where the 500 designated parking stalls fill up quickly in the morning, prompting other transit users to park in spots belonging to adjacent businesses.
The city is trying to create additional spaces on an interim and long-term basis but has nothing to offer this September other than the status quo — an information campaign and parking tickets for those who don’t heed the warnings.
“The signage is in place for bylaw to enforce if necessary,” said St. Albert Transit director Bob McDonald. “The enforcement of the private parking of the adjacent landowners is something that we were hoping to avoid but it might well be necessary depending on peoples’ reaction.”
McDonald’s department is concentrating on an information campaign to educate transit users of the rules around the park and ride and to consider other ways of accessing buses into Edmonton.
“We’re trying to convince people to use the local [bus] service,” McDonald said.
The city is anticipating increased ridership this year as NAIT students come on-stream with U-Pass, a mandatory transit pass that grants full-time post-secondary students universal access to Edmonton Transit, Strathcona County Transit and St. Albert Transit.
St. Albert Transit has more buses available and will put them on the road if necessary, McDonald said.
This time of year is always “problematic,” said Jay McMartin, president of Brentwood Developments, which owns the Village Landing retail complex adjacent to the transit hub.
Brentwood has been running a series of ads aimed at informing people of the parking rules. But McMartin feels that a crackdown by St. Albert’s bylaw enforcement will be key to getting the message across.
“I hope it goes smoothly. I hope nobody gets upset with us and I hope the long-term solution is expedited,” he said.
Michael Mazepa of the St. Albert Inn is tired of dealing with the problem every year and wants the city to find a solution.
“The park and ride is a success for the city because everyone is using it,” he said. “I think it’s up to the city to come up with something else to accommodate their success.”
Last year the city tried providing a shuttle bus to Village Landing from the Kinex-Akinsdale Arenas but the pilot failed to attract significant ridership. Council’s preferred long-term solution is to build a 1,750-stall park and ride facility between St. Albert and Edmonton, but the province holds the land and won’t even discuss the idea until Anthony Henday Drive opens sometime in late 2011, said Mayor Nolan Crouse.
In the interim the city is trying to lease a vacant lot owned by Petro Canada behind its station at St. Albert Trail and Gate Avenue.
“We could not get it to fall into place for this fall. They just wanted too much money and we weren’t prepared to pay,” Crouse said.
Negotiations will continue through the winter, he said.
The city estimates that about nine per cent of park and ride users live in Sturgeon County and has sent a letter to Sturgeon County requesting a financial contribution toward the PetroCan site.
“Realistically, we’ve got almost enough park and ride spots for St. Albertans,” Crouse said. “The out-of-towners put us over the edge.”
Sturgeon County Mayor Don Rigney said he was aware of the letter but his council has identified a park and ride at the north end of St. Albert as its top transit priority.
“For the right deal with the right Green Trip funding and the right program, there might be a willingness to do something … just on the north end of St. Albert,” Rigney said.
