WATCH ABOVE: For the first time, the Metro LRT Line snaked its way through morning and afternoon rush hours. Vinesh Pratap went out with a stopwatch to measure the impact on traffic and transit.
EDMONTON — The morning and afternoon commute on Tuesday, Sept. 8 will be telling. Not only will the roads be busy with back-to-school and post-long weekend traffic, but it’s also the first time the new Metro LRT Line will run during rush hour.
We kept tabs on transit and traffic impacts first-hand. Three Global Edmonton employees took the morning commute, travelling from Churchill Station to NAIT.
Nancy Carlson was cycling, Slav Kornik rode the LRT, and Tonia Huynh drove. They provided updates about their routes and any delays or challenges they encountered in the live blog below.
HAVE YOUR SAY: How was your commute today? Tell us in the live blog below.
Mayor Don Iveson said Monday he hadn’t ridden the new line yet.
“I’m frankly not that excited,” he said.
“Until the signalling contractor delivers a working product, allows us to run this thing at speed, and sort out all the bugs with the signal crossings at the intersection, I’m not celebrating. There’s nothing to celebrate.”
The new LRT line officially opened at 5:42 a.m. Sunday after the project saw several delays.
While Sunday’s opening has been a long time coming, the line still isn’t running to its full capacity. Due to ongoing troubles with the signalling system, trains will run on a 15-minute frequency between the Churchill and NAIT stations. They will also be travelling at a slower speed of 25 km/h.
Last week, city council once again voiced its frustrations after a city report revealed there could significant traffic delays on key routes during peak rush hours. Testing of the Metro Line found drivers could wait upwards of 16 minutes at two specific intersections in the Kingsway area.
WATCH: It officially opened early Sunday morning, but the new Metro LRT Line will really be testing during Tuesday morning’s commute. Emily Mertz tells us why the mayor isn’t that excited.
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