The work has been underway since last June and now planners have mapped out their preferred route for Edmonton’s Centre LRT.
A picture of the proposed LRT route was posted online and the city confirmed to Global News on Wednesday the image was accurate. However, the LRT line’s project manager said where the tracks are situated has yet to be finalized.
“Everything is on the table because we have to evaluate on every location, ‘What are the pros and cons of each option,’ before we say, ‘This is how it will look and function,” Satya Gadidasu told Global News on Wednesday.
The preferred route will be shared with the public for feedback at three upcoming public engagement meetings on Feb. 15, 27 and 28.
“The city will continue to explore options and possible approaches to mitigate any issues raised by the public and stakeholders prior to city council approval of the route,” city spokesperson Bethany Padfield said.
The goal of the route is to provide “seamless connections” between downtown, the Alberta legislature, University of Alberta, Strathcona, Bonnie Doon, east Edmonton and the wider LRT network.
The plan calls for a new LRT bridge to connect downtown with the south side of the city.
“As part of the technical analysis, we were evaluating the High Level Bridge as one of the options — in addition to looking for a new bridge — to understand what is the capacity of that bridge because it’s a 100-year-old bridge with historical designation attached to it, and based on the historical designation, in order to accommodate LRT, the structure would need to be rebuilt, which doesn’t fit with the historical designation,” Gadidasu said.
The Centre LRT project manager said a new bridge would need to be designed in such a way as to also protect Edmontonians’ view of the “High Level skyline.”
The low-floor route will run down Whyte Avenue from Boonie Doon, around the corner at 112 Street and Whyte, towards the University of Alberta towards downtown.
READ MORE: Whyte Avenue preferred route for Centre LRT: City administration
Watch below: On Dec. 29, 2017, Julia Wong filed this report about another LRT line being planned for Edmonton and how Whyte Avenue might play a big role.
The idea of running an LRT track along a much-visited stretch of Whyte Avenue has drawn mixed reactions in the past. On Wednesday, Luis Estrada with Varsity Optical, which is located on Whyte Avenue, said he believes an LRT track could actually ease congestion.
“It’s quite a busy area,” Estrada said. “I think it (the city’s plan) will help the congestion. I think we’ll see less ETS (bus) traffic.
“Being an ETS rider myself at one point, I know that there’s a number of routes that run in front of the store here. I think it will help reduce that kind of traffic and I think that once the train is set in front of our store here, as a business, for us, we think it would be fantastic. We could get a lot more exposure.”
Estrada added that if they haven’t already done so, he hopes city planners try to learn form what’s worked for other cities when they devise a final blueprint for the Centre LRT.
“This project is the last piece of the LRT network plan,” Gadidasu said. “This is the last piece of the puzzle where we are trying to understand what the route will look like.”
Gadidasu said the public has already been asked what avenues and streets the LRT should be on and that he hopes to present a plan for city council to approve in April. He said if council gives it the green light, there would be another round of consultation with the public and other stakeholders before station locations are settled upon as well as what the design of the new LRT bridge would look like.
-With files from Vinesh Pratap
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