City Staff to recommend 113A Street corridor at cost of $1.1 billion

May 19th, 2010, Gordon Kent, Edmonton Journal

In a plan to be revealed today, the transportation department is recommending that Edmonton’s future LRT line to St. Albert travel north from the City Centre Airport land along 113A Street.

The proposed route, which would see tracks go west on 153rd Avenue to a new park-and-ride lot beside Anthony Henday Drive, beats out two other suggested corridors along 127th Street and St. Albert Trail.

Transportation officials are scheduled to unveil their recommendation at a news conference this morning, but Coun. Kim Krushell said she isn’t surprised to hear 113A Street is the preferred option.

“This is the route that always seemed to make the most sense to me, although I am concerned about the property acquisition,” said Krushell, whose Ward 2 includes northwest Edmonton. “It opens up an area that has a lot of transit riders. It still meets the goal of serving St. Albert citizens in a timely manner.”

The main advantage of using 113A Street is it’s projected to have the highest ridership, serving Griesbach and other growing neighborhoods, Krushnell said.

There’s also strong potential for redevelopment in areas such as city-owned land near 153rd Avenue, especially compared to St. Albert Trail, which is mainly for commercial and industrial projects, she said.
“St. Albert wins with any routes because LRT gets to the park-and-ride,” Krushnell said. “It benefits Ward 2 residents as well, because we hope it will do its job and get cars off the road system.”

The current price to follow 113A Street corridor is $1.1 billion.

While Krushnell said that’s more than the other options, she hopes costs can be cut by arranging to build a flyover across the train yards and Yellowhead Trail, rather than tunneling under them.

The route option is scheduled to go to a public hearing in June before council makes a final decision, Krushnell said. The new line would continue on from the planned track between downtown and NAIT, using the current high-floor train cars for potential regional connections, according to the city website.

No construction date has been set. The next three priorities for LRT expansion are routes approved to NAIT, the west end, and Mill Woods, an estimated cost of $3 billion.

Coun. Amarjeet Sohi said the cost is less than the money that would be needed for roads and bridges to accommodate private vehicles if the LRT system doesn’t continue to grow.

“We want to provide an opportunity for people to go all over the city on the LRT. What it does now is go north and south,” said Sohi ,who didn’t have details about the recommended northwest route.

“The LRT is an investment in the future of the city…even though it seems very costly, and it is costly, if we don’t build it, how do we manage traffic 50 years from now?”