Glenco
Senior Member
Thank goodness that shared path and park are very popular
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- Thread starter IanO
- Start date
IanO
Superstar
^easily would have worked with both as per the high level line plans.
Gronk!
Senior Member
They dug up the CPR rail line, demolished the bridge across Jasper Ave, and created the Railtown Park sometime during the late 80s or early 90s. They had 30 years to extend the rail line to MacEwan but they didn't. Anyone who opposes this development because of a rail line that never got extended during those 30 years - I say "well that's tough" and "sucks to be you".
P.S. please rename the thread title to "Railtown Lofts".
thommyjo
Senior Member
One thing this project will make more obvious is the overlapping alley and bike path. Here’s hoping that whole thing gets repaved as part of this and makes it a bit safer and smoother.
CplKlinger
Senior Member
As someone who drives the streetcars, that plan was sadly very unrealistic. Off the top of my head, they drew the streetcar in the tunnel half the width that they actually are, meaning a path actually cannot fit there. Also, they didn't separate people and streetcars on the top deck, and one of the drawings even shows someone on the track distracted by the view of the river as a streetcar bears down on them. And that drawing also didn't include the inevitable suicide barriers. Also, they drew in a bunch of rail-based merchant carts that I think they expected the society to just... tow in and store in their very small streetcar barn every night. And this isn't relevant to the topic, but the drawings showed the track taking a bunch of random zig bags and dead ends.
All that's to say, the streetcars were used as artistic props, and safe integration was not a consideration that got factored in. I love the paths and use them myself, but you have no idea how often we almost hit people who cut us off while biking or walking, walk on the track even though there's a path right beside them, or even pose on the track for photoshoots while we're literally driving toward them. Often pedestrians have earbuds or headphones and don't even hear our bells - we need to use our horns on them to avoid close calls. I'm not saying the idea was impossible, but the HLL lost a lot of credibility in my eyes by not taking safe integration seriously.
Gus Haynes
Active Member
^Now that's what I call a well-informed comment. Thank you.
Edmcowboy11
Senior Member
Nice to see another empty lot being filled.
Stevey_G
Active Member
Tunnelling the capital line westbound? Would a single level of underground parking prohibit that kind of expansion? It might I dunno.
Glenco
Senior Member
There is a cistern under Jasper between 110-111 streets which would be more of a concern
chrisvazquez7
Active Member
Just seeing this now. I'll echo the comments about it being too bad we're not preserving a right of way for a future rail line. We have made this mistake before with MacEwan. It will get increasingly harder to build a HSR/Intercity rail hub in downtown Edmonton if we continue to build on old ROWs. Or maybe we will be destined to have two central stations (Strathcona and RAM) for all time. I think the development will help Jasper Ave though. It's a great looking proposal.
HappyJazzz
Active Member
It is too bad that councils over the years were so shortsighted with squandering the old rail right of ways downtown.
That said, Edmonton would hardly be the only city to have regular and HSR stations separated.
At least there is LRT linking government center and blatchford, which seems like the only central area where a regional rail station could work.
David A
Senior Member
Actually two stations may not be such a bad idea, if it is not too expensive. It could help connect downtown and Strathcona better.
However, IMO the central station should just be the downtown one, but Strathcona could be a smaller additional stop. As long as the central station is in close proximity to a LRT station (such as Government Centre), it probably works ok.
Edmcowboy11
Senior Member
Sorry to sound like a downer, but until the province shows me that they are actually building a rail line to Calgary I still place that and station location in the same category as the Edmontonian. Other than the announcement months ago, I don't believe this government has a real desire to do anything.
David A
Senior Member
Its hard to tell on this one. Commuter rail would likely also appeal to the key suburban and rural voters near Edmonton that the UCP needs to get or keep.
I'm not sure if anything will actually happen anywhere on this after the Green Line debacle in Calgary, but if it does then things may come together quickly.
God
Active Member
You guys have to cut the province some slack. This project is a legacy project for whichever party takes it on. Depending on how it's done the legacy it leaves will either be good or bad permanently for that party. If it's done it has to be done efficiently at the right price. This line would be good for the province which all political parties seem to agree on. If the green line debacle means anything it's that the budget is the most important piece to the puzzle. If the price for an lrt like the green line is that inflated. The cost for high speed rail might just bankrupt the province.