After 30 years of slow growth, the LRT system is poised to undergo a dramatic expansion over the next few decades that could see tracks reach almost every corner of the city.
Under proposals set for a public hearing Tuesday, LRT cars would eventually travel to the southern boundary, Lewis Estates, St. Albert, the northeast Horse Hills area, Sherwood Park and Ellerslie, with an additional inner-city circuit tying downtown and Old Strathcona.
There might even be enough demand for a separate line to the northwest.
This ambitious program would involve a more than eight-fold increase in LRT track, to 128 kilometres from the existing 15 kilometres when Century Park opens in 2010.
While extensions to existing lines would use the current high-floor style of LRT trains, which passengers enter from raised platforms, planners suggest the new routes adopt low-floor technology accessible from simple curbside stops.
"In the long term, we`re looking at bringing the city to a more urban centre ... (low-floor trains) can just fit in better to the community and the neighbourhood," transportation strategic planning general supervisor Rhonda Toohey says.
It`s all part of the push to make Edmonton more compact, encouraging development along public transit corridors to help reduce sprawl that`s bad for the environment and expensive to service.
But population concentrations will probably never be high enough to make LRT worthwhile in most of the capital region, including the Edmonton International Airport, with those areas better served by rapid bus or commuter rail.
Nothing will happen overnight. The only LRT extensions with routes in place are short hops to NAIT and Gorman -- the southeast and west approaches should be decided by the end of the year, while initial studies on a potential St. Albert alignment won`t be finished until next spring.
Read the full article here.
Under proposals set for a public hearing Tuesday, LRT cars would eventually travel to the southern boundary, Lewis Estates, St. Albert, the northeast Horse Hills area, Sherwood Park and Ellerslie, with an additional inner-city circuit tying downtown and Old Strathcona.
There might even be enough demand for a separate line to the northwest.
This ambitious program would involve a more than eight-fold increase in LRT track, to 128 kilometres from the existing 15 kilometres when Century Park opens in 2010.
While extensions to existing lines would use the current high-floor style of LRT trains, which passengers enter from raised platforms, planners suggest the new routes adopt low-floor technology accessible from simple curbside stops.
"In the long term, we`re looking at bringing the city to a more urban centre ... (low-floor trains) can just fit in better to the community and the neighbourhood," transportation strategic planning general supervisor Rhonda Toohey says.
It`s all part of the push to make Edmonton more compact, encouraging development along public transit corridors to help reduce sprawl that`s bad for the environment and expensive to service.
But population concentrations will probably never be high enough to make LRT worthwhile in most of the capital region, including the Edmonton International Airport, with those areas better served by rapid bus or commuter rail.
Nothing will happen overnight. The only LRT extensions with routes in place are short hops to NAIT and Gorman -- the southeast and west approaches should be decided by the end of the year, while initial studies on a potential St. Albert alignment won`t be finished until next spring.
Read the full article here.