City council has been given some ball park numbers on how to fix the traffic tie ups on the Metro LRT line as it reaches its destination at NAIT.
To tunnel it under Princess Elizabeth Avenue would cost $95 million. To elevate it over top is $51 million. And now there’s another thing to mull over.
After first rejecting the notion years ago, Kingsway Mall is kicking around the idea of redeveloping part of its property to accommodate LRT, according to a report heading to city council’s Transportation Committee.
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“They’re looking, with some creativity, at their long term development potential,” confirmed Mayor Don Iveson. “There’s no doubt that an LRT station has value to them and if there’s a way to work grade separation in and around that together.
“They weren’t, I understand, open to that five or six years ago but they are now which is great. But it’s very hypothetical at this point.”
“Kingsway’s certainly more than open to continuing the conversation with the City of Edmonton,” said Jelena Bojic, the marketing director for Oxford Properties, owners of Kingsway Mall.
“There’s not a lot of details that we have confirmed at this point, so they’re all still kind of in the option phase and once we have a conversation with the city we’d be more than happy to talk to you in more details,” she told 630 CHED.
Iveson said it’s early days, and council has a lot of balls in the air to consider when sorting out the traffic tie-ups that have seen vehicles stopped with the crossing arms down, and the Metro Line train slowly rolling by.
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At its worst, it took vehicles 19 minutes to clear some intersections during rush hour.
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“We have to talk a little bit more with Kingsway Mall,” Iveson said. “We have to understand the development timeline for Blatchford. There’s a number of variables in that. Ultimately we’ve got to get the Metro Line running the way it’s supposed to be running and then see what the intersection and traffic impacts are at point.”
“I think we’ll have to continue to monitor it and use that information to inform a decision when we extend the line further into Blatchford — whether grade separation would be a given an add on, that we would debate that.”
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There’s a wide range of prices depending on the option, the report said, anywhere from $35 million to $95 million, all to fix a problem created in part because of a lack of information.
“Back in 2009, for what ever reason, there was no traffic impact assessment done and I think every one of us on council was furious to discover that last fall,” Iveson said.
Transportation committee will look at several reports for other grade separation proposals for LRT expansion. That includes on the west leg of the Valley Line LRT, where it could cost $50 million at 178th Street, $150 million at 149th Street, and further up the Metro Line north of Blatchford in years to come $70 million at 137th Avenue.
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“It’s good to have the numbers,” said Councillor Andrew Knack. “I certainly want to consider it seriously, recognizing the troubles we’ve had with the Metro Line. The thing about the Metro Line, it was $90 million under budget.”
Transportation Committee meets next Wednesday.
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