The vision of what an LRT route to St. Albert may look like is starting to take shape.
The City of Edmonton announced earlier this week eight possible routes for an estimated $1.5-billion northwest LRT line that will eventually arrive on St. Albert's doorstep.
The corridors would begin at NAIT and run near either St. Albert Trail, 127th Street or 113A Street, and end at a new park 'n' ride to be constructed on the southern edge of St. Albert, potentially near the former Newman College site.
St. Albert Transit director Bob McDonald has been involved in the discussions with Edmonton and said the best route would likely be one that runs straight down St. Albert Trail.
"I think our preference would be the one that is the most direct and shortest time," said McDonald. "We are keen to get it out here as fast as we can and will do whatever we can to support that."
Edmonton announced plans last month to fast-track LRT expansion by 2016, which would include the NAIT line, the west end to Lewis Estates, and south to Mill Woods.
The line to St. Albert would be one of the last lines in Edmonton's 30-year LRT program, meaning construction on the route wouldn't likely start for at least 10 years.
LRT levy
Last spring, the city contributed $50,000 to an engineering study on the matter. Now, Coun. Len Bracko would like to see the development community start contributing toward an LRT fund.
Bracko recently announced his intention to introduce a motion that would call for a $100-per-hectare contribution from the development community to fund LRT expansion into St. Albert. The contribution would apply to the annexed lands and would amount to about $130,000 a year.
Bracko said establishing such a mandate would send a strong message to Edmonton and the province that St. Albert is serious about having LRT.
"If we want to bring LRT to St. Albert, we have to act now and this would be the start of making sure LRT would come here," said Bracko. "This would also say we are very supportive and we want to make this happen."
Last December, Bracko made another proposal to create a new transit tax levy of $1 per $100,000 of assessment, meaning a home assessed at $300,000 would contribute $3 per year, while a home assessed at $1 million would provide $10 per year to the LRT fund.
Council voted down the LRT tax levy idea, but has yet to debate the charge to developers.
The total cost of the proposed LRT lines is about $3 billion. Edmonton expects to receive a large portion of the funding for the NAIT line from the provincial Green TRIP program, part of a $2-billion announcement in 2008 that also included carbon capture and storage.
Even though the Stelmach government says it's still committed to Green TRIP, its funding has been almost entirely eliminated this year.
The program didn't see any funding in the 2009-10 budget, but about $70 million will be allocated in the 2010/11 budget year, and $200 million in each of the two following years.
