Oh boy, this topic really gets me fired up.
I genuinely have tried hard to think about the designer's, planner's, engineer's and modeler's mindsets when they designed this section of the line (111th/Kingsway Intersection and Kingsway/Royal Alex Station) and come to some sort of reasoning for the absolutely foolish decision they made to put it at-grade, but I just can't think of anything other than the city wanting to cheap out on this line as much as they thought was acceptable. If this is the case, then they went too far for this simple fact: You have 2 very busy roads and 1 moderately busy road all meeting at one pinch point, an intersection that will already experience increasing traffic issues as time goes on, and they choose to do what? Throw an
at-grade LRT into the mix? Why?? There was every reason to put specifically this section elevated AT LEAST. And now what do we have, a traffic model that THE CITY LITERALLY COMISSIONED which shows 10-block backups and a "failing" intersection. Give me a break. WHY didn't they built it grade separated in the first place then, eh? I wish dearly that I could've spoken at council meetings when they were designing the line, but I couldn't have, since I was like 5 or 6 years old at the time
Ugh, I could keep going, but I'll just list the reasons as to why this area should be elevated in the future (maybe even as soon as construction on Metro Line NW):
1: Would make the operation of the LRT in that section and the Metro Line as a whole a f**k ton easier (maybe could've avoided having to remove Thales if this was done in the first place).
2: Could easily and safely achieve the 5-minute headway.
3: There is more than adequate room on either side to make approaches from the ground to an elevated station.
4: Could create a pedway access across the intersection to the Kingsway parking lot, heavily reducing the
literal danger that pedestrians and other non-vehicle commuters have to face when crossing the massive 111th/Kingsway intersection.
5: Could create another pedway linking directly into the Royal Alex, making the movement for patients and visitors between the hospital and station much more comfortable (especially during the winter months)
And finally
6, the
pièce de résistance: Not adding 10 fold to the traffic congestion already present at this intersection, now and in the future, and making it faster and more efficient for bus commuters to access this area.
But yeah, I'm also looking forward to hearing the city's answer to this inquiry, and if any of you guys can explain why the line was designed the way it was then I'd be happy to hear it.