Trees removed around northwest Calgary train stations to discourage camping and drug use

Trees and bushes have been removed from the Banff Trail and Lions Park LRT stations by City of Calgary crews in an effort to discourage camping and drug use in green spaces around the stations.

Issues at the Lions Park train station have spilled over to the Louise Riley Library, which has had security guards at the entrance for the past four years. At the nearby soccer field, players have encountered needles.

“We want all of our park spaces to be safe and secure for everybody and not just from people, but also from things that are left behind. Whether it be garbage or drug paraphernalia or people defecating on the fields,” said Ward 7 Coun. Terry Wong.

Wong recently walked along the northwest train line with members of city transit, parks and bylaw to see what could be done.

Trees and shrubs have now been removed at both Lions Park and Banff Trail stations to increase sightlines and remove areas of low visibility.

The Hounsfield Heights-Briar Hill Community Association has attempted to activate the park space with the bike ramps.

“There’s some usage of it but there’s been a bit of reluctance,” said Hounsfield Heights-Briar Hill Community Association president Brad Krizan.

“We have a homeless population that uses it, so there have been safety issues and some drug use and things like that. So it is a concern for the community, and in particular for residents that back onto the park — they are the most impacted.

“Certainly there is a level of frustration there.”

Krizan supports the city’s efforts to clear some of the greenspace but is hoping more can be done to dissuade people from camping by the train station. He said the community association has suggested things like widening the bike path or creating a dog park.

“We recognize these are complex issues. We have empathy as a community, but as residents here too we also deal with this out of our backyards,” Krizan said.

“The city really needs to take a leadership role and listen to the concerns of the residents and probably move in a little faster on some of these solutions so we can hopefully work together on them.”

Krizan said the community association has talked about transforming the area from 14 Street to 19 Street into more of a green corridor.

“Maybe that includes widening the walking path or maybe it means more formal activation to get different activities happening in here because this is a very active transit corridor from Banff Trail to SAIT and University of the Arts and into the downtown. I would love it if we could find a way for this to become more of a green corridor and it would probably encourage more activation and probably temper some of these other activities,” Krizan said.

The Alpha House says the Lions Park station has become a hot spot in the past few weeks. Members of the DOAP Team are doing regular welfare checks and helping those in need of assistance.

The president of the Capitol Hill Community Association says community activation and site use is required for people to feel safe.

“These current issues with the train stations and surrounding parks are driven by broad social problems, so are challenging to address directly,” Owen McHugh said in a statement. “I think what Briar Hill Community Association has done to try and activate the park space with the bike ramps is a good initiative. In my opinion, people feeling safe is perception-based and is a different issue than addressing the open drug use and associated activities.”

Randie Blair was getting on the LRT at Lions Park station on Thursday with her granddaughter.

“I feel badly about the people in the park because I don’t feel safe for my children to be running around. The homeless need a space, so it’s an issue for them and for us and we have to do something,” Blair said.

“I think they need to find a home for the homeless like those tiny houses we have for the veterans because everybody needs a place they can lock the door. When I donate to people on the street sometimes I ask about their story and they tell me they’ve been stolen from while they’ve been sleeping. Homeless people are not going away so we have to find a spot for them.”