[CplKlinger]

This is a really cool idea, and I love how much thought has been put into it so far. I'm not sure how it'd pan out, but I think it's too early to honestly know anyway. What I do know is that we won't go anywhere as a city if all the good ideas with potential get shut down early on because it's assumed they won't work. This sort of attitude will just encourage innovative people and forward-thinking companies to take their ideas to other cities. If we want Edmonton to become a more globally competitive city, and an actual 'big' city, then it wouldn't hurt to approach new concepts like this with an open mind, and at least wait for more engagement and studies to be done before making up your mind for good.

 

[archited]

There is a brownfield plot of land in Devon bounded by Rideau St/River Drive on the East, River Drive on the North and Riverbend Rust Repair on the south that would be ideal for an access station to the Devon Landing Rivercraft Station. The Rivercraft Station would be accessed by a bridge that would elevate over the wooded south bank of the River, bridging the river itself and landing on the north bank directly opposite. The bridge itself would be well camouflaged with native landscape materials and would have several access features: a pedestrian path, a nature trail, and, between the two a horizontilator (horizontal elevator-like series of cabins that can traverse angles (a la funiculars) and horizontal runs alike), propelled by LSM guides to the centre-point of the river. From here, transferring to actual elevators, prospective passengers would descend to/ascend from a suspended station (hung from the bridge structure above) where they could board/deboard the actual river craft.

The suspended station — a common design for all stops from a functional perspective — would have LSM ramps that are gauged to angle down to the river surface, adjustable in terms of existing water levels. These ramps would then guide the river craft out of the water accessing the station proper. There would be two ramps on either side of the station, one for eastbound craft and one for those that are westbound.

The brownfield port would feature automated parking for both automobiles and bicycles. The river port station would have a fine-dining eatery, a casual cafe, a river-view lookout, indoor as well as patio seating, and a number of kiosks, restrooms, and other amenities for the commuting/traveling public. Built on a financial model that is supported by retail/hospitality leasing and advertising and gamification platforms, the actual river craft ride would be “free” for the people using it.

Craft would then ply the river, skimming just above the water surface, towards the City (the potential would also exist for tourist excursions in the other direction) heading towards the next pick-up point.

 

[CplKlinger]

How far down the river is your team thinking of having it go right now? Would it go between Devon-Edmonton, or is there thought of taking it down to Fort Saskatchewan so that the coverage can mirror the regional park that's being touted by these municipalities and the River Valley Alliance?

 

[archited]

The second stop, Rabbit Hill Landing Station, would be a connector (same bridge and suspended station concept) at the Rabbit Hill snow resort enabling that facility to expand on its concept as a year-round entertainment venue. The stop would align with the open-air parking facility, converting it to an automated underground auto and bicycle parkade (bicycle because we would build on an all-nature bicycle path along the river). On the north side of the river connections would be made to the Blackhawk Golf Club, likewise enabling the proprietors there to expand on their business plan.

 

[archited]

How far down the river is your team thinking of having it go right now? Would it go between Devon-Edmonton, or is there thought of taking it down to Fort Saskatchewan so that the coverage can mirror the regional park that's being touted by these municipalities and the River Valley Alliance?

Yes, all the way to Fort Saskatchewan with provision for tourist-type excursions west of Devon and east of Fort Saskatchewan via rivercraft.

 

[CplKlinger]

Yes, all the way to Fort Saskatchewan with provision for tourist-type excursions west of Devon and east of Fort Saskatchewan via rivercraft.

I'm so glad to hear that! If we want to leverage our river valley, I think it's crucial to take a regional approach.

Where do you want to go from here? It's obvious that a lot of thought has been going into this. Should we be expecting public engagement, surveys, etc. anytime soon? Or does a fair bit more work need to go on behind the scenes first?

 

[archited]

This is a billion-dollar-plus project with myriad "checkpoints" along the way. There are engagements at all three levels of government and, at the municipal level, there are City oks, county oks, and other stakeholders that need to be dealt with. Edmonton is somewhat unique in its river possibilities -- the Bow river in Calgary for example is too narrow and shallow to be feasible, so it won't work there. Other centres are too small population-wise to be successful. Edmonton is Baby-Bear just right (once again). We are not at the public engagement side just yet. As I said to start this off the rendering of the Craft are mechanical/functional at this point and the real craft will have a much broader aesthetic appeal -- we need to get to that stage plus concept renderings for various stations, before we open up to the public.

 

[archited]

Carrying on down the river the next stop, Windermere Station, would align with the terminus of Windermere Blvd. such that the station builds off of the Windermere commercial area and the River Ridge Golf Club on the east side of the river and Big Island on the west side — aside: it would be really cool if Big Island was developed as either a Federal Urban National Park or a First Nations Urban Reserve.

 

[archited]

The fourth stop, Terwillegar Station. would pick up Promontory Point and Terwillegar Park on the south side of the river and Oleskiw park and the Edmonton Country Club on the north side of the river. Both sides would have automated auto and bicycle parkades and all of the previously mentioned amenities. Suburban communities from both sides of the river would then have access to the river craft ride.

 

[archited]

Station number five, Fort Edmonton Park/Valley Zoo Station, would be located near the Quesnell Bridge and would convert the Ft. Ed. Park surface parking to an automated structure. This would be a major stop on the tourist map as well as commuter significance related to residential communities on either side of the river. An LSM activated sky-tram would also ferry people to the entry gates of the Valley Zoo. Making both of these Edmonton features more accessible would help in their expansion potentials. With automated parking, both sites would have freer growth possibilities.

 

[archited]

The sixth stop, Hawrelak Park Landing Station, would be one that aligns with the north end of the lake on the east and Mackenzie Ravine and 142nd Street on the west. Added features to this more urban location would include raft launch facilities for canoes, kayaks, paddle-boards, etc. at water level and trail connectors for hikers. All of the other amenities in terms of view stations, eateries and bars would apply as well.

 

[archited]

The next station, the Rossdale/Kinsmen Station requires the application of some real imagination and the re-focusing of the Centre of Edmonton. A new “living bridge” concept that changes the alignment of 109th street to connect directly from the south end 109/Sask. Drive to the north end 109 st./Legislature adjacent without the current jog in traffic to access the vehicular level of the High Level Bridge would supplant the existing idiocy. The High Level Bridge itself would be transformed from a vehicular throughway to a high-end Retail/Hospitality venue, encased in thermal-bridged laminated acrylic (on the existing traffic deck) and transformed on the upper deck to a “high-level park” with ERR path, and pedestrian and bike paths. The piers for the new High-Level Bridge would consist of mixed-use towers — one on the north end adjacent to the Legislature Grounds and 3 on the south end, one of which would be a five-star hotel. Mid-span on the new bridge would be a suspended station for the river craft. This station would also feature other docking facilities and sky-tram connections to the power plant and a future location for a World Indigenous Peoples’ Exposition. The entire build-out would activate/re-activate the core of the City, tying together not only Rossdale but also the Prairie Sky Gondola, the University of Alberta, the Legislature, the Kinsmen, the Baseball Park (hopefully upgraded and revamped) and the power plant surround.

 

[archited]

The 8th stop, Muttart Conservatory Station, would directly connect into the LRT network Valley Line with Louise McKinney Riverfront Park on the north and Henrietta Muir Edwards Park on the south. This station is significant in that it joins the residential areas of Riverdale and Cloverdale into a connected entity. It also improves the aspect of the Quarters, impelling future development there as an added river craft development bonus area.

 

[Airboy]

How would you address the river users. floating people, going through the area the rowing club uses.

 

[archited]

^^^^ We would have to just mercilessly run over them!

(kidding of course)

There would be a vehicle captain and a sophisticated "awareness" system. When I lived in Edmonton, my brother and I used to canoe the river on a fairly frequent basis, driving together (separately) to Rundle Park, leaving one vehicle there and then going up river as far as we cared to on any given trip in the other vehicle and then paddling down the river back to the first vehicle. The North Saskatchewan for those who have boated is a very wide expanse of water. There is room for a lot of users in the river -- I believe the average width is about 200 metres with a current running about 7 kph in the summer -- our vehicle is proposed to be about 15 metres wide There is a water etiquette necessary to any application (same as rules of the road) as I am sure the Edmonton Riverboat has to adhere to when it is in operation. We would look to be just one other water user, able to stop, reverse, and maneuver around "obstacles". Actually, with centre-river docking facilities, we would eagerly encourage greater use of the river in the form of boaters, paddle-boarders, floaters, etc.

Encouraging more people to use the river is a huge positive for Edmonton.

From freeze-up forward to Spring thaw I expect that we would be the only on-river use.

Finally, we have purposefully designed our vehicle to act like any one of a slow-flying aircraft, a floating boat, and a hovercraft. One of our stated goals would be water safety and rescue (within the functional bounds of operation)