Southeast Transitway/Southeast LRT | ~17 Stations | $2 Billion | Proposed

[Chadillaccc]

Just thought since the West LRT is now open for business, people may want to start a conversation about the next line to be built. The Public Transportation thread is fine... but this one just kinda concentrates the conversation into a specific topic. So it works


This is a pretty cool, comprehensive map and graphic of future RT projects and their priority. Posted by Wooster a few months ago in the "Calgary's $8 BILLION Transit Plan - The RouteAhead" thread.




Source: http://metronews.ca/news/calgary/373...-transit-plan/



Here's the Southeast to North Central line map.



Source:http://www.lrtincalgary.ca/FutureMap.html

[J-D]

I think what makes me most curious is the percentage of users expected to use the SETWAY/SELRT who currently utilize the SWLRT? It sure seems like 4 car trains can't come soon enough (at least during rush hour), but I wonder if this will ease capacity issues further down the road.

[Chadillaccc]

How the southeast/north Green Line would roll

In the future — how distant? Hard to say — that busway would become the LRT route.

It’s not an LRT, but it’s the next best thing. Better than what passes for “bus rapid transit” (BRT) right now in Calgary.

If you’ve ever taken transit around Ottawa, you’ll know what Calgary is thinking of for the Green Line, the proposed line that now has $520 million behind it (though that’s not quite enough to fully build the route from Harvest Hills to Seton/south hospital). In some areas, but buses run next to car traffic in their own lanes. In other areas, there’s a special overpass or roadway built just for buses.

Full story: http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/2013/...ne-would-roll/




Stantec proposal for the Southeast Line.


• Video Link

[RyLucky]

I predict that the 7th ave station on the new line will become the busiest station in the entire system, especially since Eau Claire would be the only other downtown station. I wonder if there will be any special considerations for the volume this station is expected to get.

I guess we wait to see more details...

[outoftheice]

Good idea for a thread!! One suggestion I would make is changing the title topic from Southeast Transitway/Southeast LRT to the Green Line Transitway/Green Line LRT. With the recent $520 million investment in the project, the City seems to be viewing the North Central and South East Transitways/LRTs as one unified project and will be making investments along the entire route at the same time. Personally I think this is the best thing to come out of the latest announcement as prior to it, both projects were being viewed separately and having to compete for funds as a result.

One quick point I will make is that full construction costs of the Green Line Transitway has been pegged at just over $700 million so even with the latest move by City Council, other funds will have to be found to complete the first phase of the project. The total cost of converting the Green Line to LRT has been pegged at over $5 Billion and the latest projections are showing LRT to be a minimum of 15-20 years in the future. Hopefully a way will be found to deal with the cost and accelerate the timeline but in order to do so, Calgarians need to have an accurate understanding of just how much (or how little) this new $520 million investment will actually bring them.

[Chadillaccc]

We would have to ask a moderator to do that. I would change it to "Green Line Transitway/203 LRT Line"

I'm hoping they just build it right from the start, and that would be building LRT first. Phase it... 16th Avenue to Quarry Park. At each terminus station (16th Ave Station and Quarry Park Station) build the transitways from there. We need to get people out of the core, not congest our already-terrible rush hour traffic with exponentially more articulated busses

[DizzyEdge]

Any stats on what percentage of people in the areas serviced by the SELRT are currently using the NW-S LRT?

[Design-mind]

This proposal is looking very promising. I hope that Imperial Oil at least has a big part (financially) in creating the Quarry Park station.

[O-tacular]

IOL and some other corporations in QP could really help with that station.

[Chadillaccc]

It would be amazing if they donated to the entire project rather than just one station.

[RyLucky]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

Any stats on what percentage of people in the areas serviced by the SELRT are currently using the NW-S LRT?

virtually none. very few.

On a map it looks like the S and SE lines would serve some of the same communities, but in reality the catchment areas are entirely separated by major obstacles like the rivers. The SE has the lowest transit ridership in the city.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by RyLucky

virtually none. very few.

On a map it looks like the S and SE lines would serve some of the same communities, but in reality the catchment areas are entirely separated by major obstacles like the rivers. The SE has the lowest transit ridership in the city.

I think this is a misleading statistic because the SE currently has shit all for accessibility and transit.

[Chadillaccc]

Very misleading, yet also true. It is hard to gauge what impact an LRT or transitway would have there, especially considering the ring road is up and running now. Most people probably don't have a problem driving.

[*Stardust*]

It's kind of hard to tell where exactly "Tower Centre" and "Olympic Way" stations are going to be? It looks like Tower Centre is on 10th ave and 1st street approximately? and Olympic way might be near that parcel of land beside Arriva?

Does anyone else think that there should be another stop in between Eau Claire and 7th ave?

[YYCguys]

Yes, there doesn't seem to be enough stations on the Green Line in the downtown core, as proposed on the maps above.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

Very misleading, yet also true. It is hard to gauge what impact an LRT or transitway would have there, especially considering the ring road is up and running now. Most people probably don't have a problem driving.

Anyone working DT would likely favour the lrt. Let's also not forget anyone from different areas of the city who works in QP.

[mersar]

Originally Posted by *Stardust*

It's kind of hard to tell where exactly "Tower Centre" and "Olympic Way" stations are going to be? It looks like Tower Centre is on 10th ave and 1st street approximately? and Olympic way might be near that parcel of land beside Arriva?

Does anyone else think that there should be another stop in between Eau Claire and 7th ave?

Correct. "Tower centre" would be right by the Calgary tower between Centre and 1st Street. "Olympic way" would be just east of 4th street SE which used to be known as that (though I think at most one block still is)

[rajuncaucasian]

Originally Posted by RyLucky

virtually none. very few.

On a map it looks like the S and SE lines would serve some of the same communities, but in reality the catchment areas are entirely separated by major obstacles like the rivers. The SE has the lowest transit ridership in the city.

I know of a couple people in McKenzie that drive over and they say they are not alone, so there might be more than you think

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by RyLucky

virtually none. very few.

On a map it looks like the S and SE lines would serve some of the same communities, but in reality the catchment areas are entirely separated by major obstacles like the rivers. The SE has the lowest transit ridership in the city.

Not true at all.

The 153 serves Copperfield, New Brighton, Mckenzie Lake, Mckenzie Towne and ends up at Sommerset.

The 406 serves Cranston, Auburn Bay, Mahogany, Seton and Mckenzie Towne and ends up at Sommerset.

The 96 serves Mckenzie Lake, Douglasdale, Douglasglen and ends up at Anderson.

The 92 serves Mckenzie Towne, Douglasdale, Douglasglen and ends up at Anderson.

The 409 serves Douglasglenn, Foothills industrial and ends up at Anderson.

The 136 Serves Riverbend, Douglasglen and ends up at Chinook.

The 23 serves Foothills, Riverbend and ends up at Chinook.

The 36 and 41 serves Lynnwood, Ogden, Riverbend and ends up at Chinook.

If virtually no one or very few people use the south line from SE communities seems like an awful lot of community routes going to South line stations.

This is just for communities south of the rail yards. Forrest Lawn, Dover, West Dover, Erin Woods all have busses that go to NE line stations.

[ByeByeBaby]

It should also be noted that the southeast currently has the most extensive set of peak express routes in the city; there are to my count seven routes going from the SE corridor to the downtown. They are:
The 75 from Riverbend/Ogden, 102 from Douglasdale, 103 from McKenzie, 110 from Douglas Glen, 117 from McKenzie Towne, 133 from Cranston and 151 from New Brighton. I expect this to increase as the communities down there expand.

The other express routes still remaining are:

• Five from the north central area (Hidden Valley, Macewan, Harvest Hills, Coventry Hills, Panorama)
• Lakeview
• Valley Ridge/Crestmont
• Two from the east (Applewood and Erin Woods/Dover)
• Two serving MRU from the LRT (one from Brentwood/Dalhousie and one from Anderson/Heritage)
• Two connecting NE Calgary (52nd St corridor) to industrial areas (Blackfoot and Foothills)