New LRT routes raise concerns

The proposed Stony Plain Road route for the west LRT line will impede ongoing efforts to redevelop the area, the community's business association said Friday.

"The projected route is going against the strategic plan we've been working on for the last couple of years," said Diane Kerluk, executive director of the Stony Plain Road Business Association.

The Stony Plain Road area is trying to evolve from a business district populated by pawn shops, liquor stores and adult entertainment stores into something safer and more pedestrian-friendly.

The route would take low-floor LRT trains east from Lewis Estates, along 87th Avenue, north on 156th Street, and then continue east towards downtown along Stony Plain Road and 104th Street, ending at Grant MacEwan College.

"This affects our strategic plan. This affects our urban design because all of that has been put on halt until the decision for the transportation has been made,"Kerluk said.

Kerluk is also concerned the LRT stations could become magnets for criminals. Stops are planned at 156th Street and 149th Street, which Kerluk said will bypass her entire business district.

But city staff have said the stops shown on the plan are simply proposals and can change.

The new routes are also raising concerns for people who live along the proposed southeast line which will take riders from the Mill Woods Town Centre into downtown Edmonton.

Strathearn resident Jerry Towle isworriedthe line could push vehicle traffic into adjacent neighbourhoods.

"I have concerns about traffic shortcutting through the neighborhoods," he said. "With 85th street being reduced to two lanes, where does that push the number of vehicles? Does it push it into residential areas which we are seeing already now through densification already downtown?"

Council will review the recommendations at a public hearing in November. The city will hold public information sessions on the proposed routes later this month.

Edmonton estimates it will cost $900 million to $1.2 billion to build each line. The city currently has no funding in place to build either route.