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dunno said:
It doesn't have to follow the freight line the whole way though. A new bridge and new ROW could be built. Sorry I know it's your fantasy map, and not mine.
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I guess. Funny enough, I wrote that in the description of the line but that Fort Sask needs to cough up the cash. After all, they were the ones who were so eager to let a 10-year old blow up the original bridge.
 
Would low-floor spur lines along streets like 124 Street (Stony Plain Road-118 Avenue) be useful?
 
The_Cat said:
Would low-floor spur lines along streets like 124 Street (Stony Plain Road-118 Avenue) be useful?
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As much as possible, I think we need to avoid branching on the Valley Line at all costs. The at-grade running severely handicaps peak frequency to no more than one train every five minutes, and branching means many areas of the line will see their frequency halved. Maybe a high-floor spur from the downtown tunnel instead, or a separate low-floor line or street-car would be better.
 
What if the spur lines ran separately from the main line? For example, the 124 Street line could run from Stony Plain Road (the south Station being at 124 Street, but separate from the Valley Line station on SPR/124 Street. The line could run north to 118 Avenue. Four streets (SPR, 107, 111 and 118 Avenue). could be connected having east/west routes. Perhaps it may be better having a high frequency route first.
 
The_Cat said:
What if the spur lines ran separately from the main line? For example, the 124 Street line could run from Stony Plain Road (the south Station being at 124 Street, but separate from the Valley Line station on SPR/124 Street. The line could run north to 118 Avenue. Four streets (SPR, 107, 111 and 118 Avenue). could be connected having east/west routes. Perhaps it may be better having a high frequency route first.
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I think especially 124 st would be better served by an underground high-floor line that spurred from Corona station under Jasper Ave and up 124 st.

Jasper Ave should have LRT running under it all the way through, in Oliver. Makes A LOT of sense, IMO
 
ChazYEG said:
I think especially 124 st would be better served by an underground high-floor line that spurred from Corona station under Jasper Ave and up 124 st.

Jasper Ave should have LRT running under it all the way through, in Oliver. Makes A LOT of sense, IMO
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I think a West Jasper, 124th up to Westmount Mall line is gonna be in the cards sooner than many might think. With Oliver's crazy growth, 124th's potential, infill all throughout surrounding neighborhoods and the area around Westmount Mall becoming a node of activity with TWOSE, Coronation Rec Centre complex, Ross Shepard HS, new seniors developments like the Christenson building, the Brentwood redevelopment and (potentially) redevelopment of the mall itself, I could see there being enough demand in the next 10-15 years to justify a new line.
 
The 5 connects Westmount with Downtown along 124 Street/Jasper Avenue. It’s a 28-minute trip.
 
Went back to my fantasy map. This time, I threw realism out the window in terms of what we could reasonably afford to build. I went ahead and resurrected the old streetcar and extended it here and there, plus I added a streetcar line from Ordze to Bethel (I wanted to give @erudyk_29 a shorter commute). Strathcona Line westward extension low-key blatantly ripped from @ChazYEG
www.google.com

Bahn?? - Google My Maps

Diese Stadt ist ab nun Eigentum der Bundesrepublik Deutschland!
www.google.com www.google.com

Looking at this map, I think such a transit network for Edmonton could outclass most German transit systems (and most European transit systems in general).

For comparison, here is a future LRT map that is more reasonably attainable this century for our city:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1kbFShneob7LCpgRPWvYgFf8XAdRWU83w&usp=sharing
 
I think a neat tram network (paid for by the property owner) could be South Edmonton Common. Have a tram shuttle passengers along 99 Street, with spurs at 19 Avenue, 20 Ave/101 Street and 21 Avenue. They needn't cross any busy roads like Parsons Road or any CPR tracks.
 
erudyk_29 said:
I've gone back and forth and produced about 1000 different versions of Edmonton's future transit map
MRT and LRT
View attachment 523582
Line 1 (Blue): This is the old Capital Line, it's been extended in both directions, and converted to an Automated-Light Metro, south to the Airport and Leduc with stops also added at a new Southwest Side neighborhood, Twin Brooks and Heritage Valley. In the north it's extended to Fort Sask with intermediate stops at Gorman and Horse Hill.

Line 2 (Red): This is the Metro Line, it has also been converted to ALM and significantly extended. To the northwest, it follows exactly the plan the city has, but has been extended to St Albert, with a stop in Downtown St Albert I've called Sturgeon and another one at Erin Ridge. It splits from Line 1 at Health Sciences / Jubilee (which I'm changing to just Jubilee for simplicity sake). It then drops into a subway tunnel under Whyte. There is a stop between 110th and 109th st called Garneau, next is a stop called Whyte which is between 106th and 107th st. Then it turns slightly south of Whyte Ave towards the Strathcona Junction station, this is a massive regional transit hub with the Red and Purple lines coming together at the south Regional Rail station and where the Prairie Link HSR terminates. There will be a cross-platform transfer at Strathcona station (as I'm calling it) with the Purple Line. Then it goes back to Whyte Ave and emerges from the tunnel just before the Mill Creek Bridge. Next it stops at 91st at a station called St Jean which serves the titular campus. It next raises up to a viaduct to go over top of the Valley Line (Line 3) and has an elevated station at Bonnie Doon. It drops down and has one more stop at Kenilworth before entering a long stretch without stations along Sherwood Park freeway, this wiill be the fastest portion of the system most likely. It then enters Sherwood Park, with stops at Ordze, another at Centre in the Park (called Broadmoor), Bethel, and finally Emerald Hills.

Line 3 (Green): This is the Valley Line with an extension to the southeast. There's another station at Mill Woods and 50st, called Crawford Plains maybe, or Meyokumin (there's about 4 neighborhoods right around here so an encompassing name is difficult to find. Then it crosses the Henday and has a station called Ellerslie which is, surprise surprise at Ellerslie Road. It then dives straight south and stops at Beaumont Central.

Line 4 (Yellow): This is Edmonton's (semi) loop line, it's going to be a streetcar style service. It starts at Victoria Park and Rundle Road (potential future TOD). This station is called Rundle, next is at 40 st and 118 ave, this stop is called Beverly, at 50st the stop is called Beacon Heights, and is a transfer station with the Orange Line (Line 6) next stop is Highlands at 58th st, next is Montrose at 66th st. It then exchanges with Line 1 at Coliseum. Parkdale stop is at 88st, Alberta Ave stop is at 97st. It then turns southwest at Princess Elizabeth Avenue and switches with Line 2 at Kingsway (simplified from Kingsway / Royal Alex). It then dives through Airway Park where there will be a stop. Then it joins 111th Ave, the next stop is called Iveson (named after Don Iveson obviously, he was mayor for 8 years and has a lasting legacy in the city so I'd be surprised if he doesn't get some things named after him) it's located at 124st. It has a transfer with the Purple Line (Line 5) here. Next stop is 131st, Amisk (Beaver in Cree), the next stop is just before 142nd st and is called Science Centre as it's right next to the Telus World of Science. The line turns south down 149st and stops at 108th Ave at a station called McQueen, south to Stoney Plain road for a transfer at Jasper Place with Line 3 (the Valley Line). Next stop is Crestwood at 95 Ave, then Laurier at 87 Ave. Then it joins with the Whytemud and becomes a freeway median, which I'm aware isn't ideal, but there isn't another great way to do this that wouldn't cost obscene amounts of money with the difficult geography here. Next stop is Whytemud at 53rd Ave, Then it turns to the median of Terwillegar and stops at Rabbit Hill Road, at a station called Rabbit Hill and turns southeast down Rabbit Hill Road, before quickly turning east and following it's own ROW along what I believe is a pipeline ROW and stops at a station called Ogilvie. Next after a bridge across the Whitemud, it stops at a station that is depressingly close but not quite close enough to Century Park called Sweet Grass, there is potential for a transfer with Line 1 here at a new station also called Sweet Grass that's again clsoe but not close enough to Century Park. The line crosses over highway 2 on a viaduct and then dips south to 28th Ave. The next station at Mill Woods Rd is called Meyonohk, it then joins up with Line 3 (Valley Line) again, terminating at Mill Woods.

Line 5 (Purple): The backbone of this line is the old High-Level Streetcar, and is most likely the most expensive per kilometer of track line, as it requires a total replacement of the High-Level Bridge to accommodate 2 directional train traffic. It is also likely to be the workhorse line at the centre of the network, as it is the best connection between the two main Regional Rail stations (Strathcona and Oliver) In the south it starts with a transfer with Line 3 at Avonmore, it follows 76 Ave across Mill Creek Ravine to 97th st and a station at Ritchie. Next stop is that mega-hub at Strathcona with a cross-platform transfer with Line 2. It continues, following the streetcar alignment. There is one more stop beside the farmers market and Fringe Theatre called Market maybe? Then it crosses the newly upgraded High Level and continues following the streetcar alignment, and stops at Government Centre transferring with Line 1 and 2 before dropping into a tunnel under Jasper Ave. There are 3 stops between 109th st and 124th st, Victoria, Oliver (name to be changed when the new name comes out) and J124. Then it's going to transfer with Line 3, next stop is at 107th Ave and called Westmount, next is a transfer station at Iveson Station on107 Ave. Next is a stop at 115 Ave called Inglewood. Then 120th Ave is called Sherwood, then Calder Station at 128th Ave and Kensington at 133rd Ave, next is Pembina at 137th Ave where it transfers with Line 6, then it terminates at a transfer station with Line 2 at 153rd Ave, probably called Caernarvon.

Line 6 (Orange): This is like a Crosstown line servicing the northside along 137th Ave, I'm not going to go into detail about stops here though. It turns south at 50th St, where it basically goes in a straight line south, crossing the river on a new bridge where there currently is a pedestrian bridge. it turns west on Terrace Rd and winds through Holyrood, Ottewell etc for an interchange at Bonnie Doon and Holyrood.

Line 7 (Dark Grey): This is the Terwillegar Line, it starts at the Rabbit Hill station on the loop line, next stop is Terwillegar station at 23rd Ave, then it hops over the Henday and has a station at Windermere Blvd called Windermere. Then terminates at Langdale. This is by far the shortest line but is in one of the fastest growing parts of the city, so would hopefully be well used.


I also made a Regional Rail and Intercity Rail plan but this post is long enough already so I'll do those later.
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Any thoughts on how this serves the west side? To me it seems underbuilt for the west end. Which has some of the highest growth this last decade, and some of the best potential for TOD, along with one of our major hospitals, rec centres, our biggest high school, and WEM, which is our third biggest employment centre and biggest tourist destination. 1 train line west of 149st seems severely underbuilt when there’s another 80+ blocks of westward development.
 
I mean, maybe there could be another branch line south from the VL West at 149st and it could head south to Callingwood Road, then cross the Henday into The Grange / The Hamptons area? I don't think this area is significantly underserved though when compared to other areas, like say the Northeast which is a larger area with less service in this plan. Maybe adjusting the alignment of the yellow line farther west as well.

I think the main thing I was thinking here is my main 2 priorities when creating the plan:

1. Densifying the core of the network, particularly in the Strathcona and western Downtown / Oliver areas and other inner-city suburbs
2. Connecting major nodes further into the suburbs with quicker regional style services: The Airport, Sherwood Park, St Albert, Fort Sask, Leduc, etc.

So service into the surburbs which are "inner" in terms of being inside the Henday but not quite truly inner city sort of fell to the wayside a bit. Though that's sort of the role of the yellow loop line. I can sort of see where you're coming from and maybe if I added another couple lines one of them would be coverage for that area but I think I would put the other lines as being higher priority right now.

It's a bit of an awkward area to serve, due to the geography of the river, the Henday and the Whitemud. I'm assuming you're talking about the southern portion, as I would say the north is fairly well served by the green and yellow line (the residential areas at least, industrial is probably not going to generate near as much traffic and is thus lower priority). There is a case to be made that either a separate line, or an extension of the dark grey line to Windermere could be extended across the river and link up with the green line at 149st, 178st or even past the Henday at Lewis Farms. This would require a totally new bridge construction in particularly difficult terrain and thus would be very, very expensive for what it's providing.
 
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