A provincial boost to Edmonton’s NAIT LRT line is a key step towards bringing the line to St. Albert but that is still a generation away, said Mayor Nolan Crouse.
The province announced this week that $497 million from its Green Trip program will go towards Edmonton’s LRT priority — to extend the service to NAIT. That line is eventually planned for extension to the south edge of St. Albert.
“There’s several dominoes that have to fall in place,” Crouse said. “I still think we’re 20 years away from seeing a destination in St. Albert.”
Last year Edmonton finalized the basic route that its northwest LRT line will take to St. Albert.
Work is already under way to expand the LRT from Churchill Station to NAIT with stops at Grant MacEwan University and Kingsway Mall. The future plan is to extend the route through the City Centre Airport lands, travel north along 113A Street then west on 153 Avenue to a future park and ride station at the south edge of St. Albert, near Anthony Henday Drive.
Premier Ed Stelmach has pledged $2 billion for the Green Trip program, with $800 million earmarked for the Capital region. The NAIT line is the top Green Trip priority identified by the Capital Region Board (CRB).
St. Albert’s park and ride station sits at priority number eight on the list, which the board approved last fall. The province has repeatedly told Crouse it won’t negotiate a location until the northwest leg of the Henday opens, which is scheduled for fall 2011.
“Another key domino in this is to make sure we lock up the park and ride location at the old Newman College site,” Crouse said.
“There’s a whole bunch of things that are falling into place that are all good,” he said. “It’s progress but it’s a generation of work.”
The province is reviewing the other Green Trip applications it received and will have more announcements in the coming weeks and months, said Tammy Forbes, a spokesperson for Alberta Transportation.
“The province’s goal here is to certainly work with the municipalities to get the projects that qualify moving as quickly as possible,” Forbes said.
“We have to do our due diligence on the business case that we get but we’re also looking to work with municipalities to meet their timelines.”
Edmonton’s LRT expansion is the first capital project to receive Green Trip funding. That city will receive $70 million this year as reimbursement for LRT expenses already incurred. The rest of the $497 million allotment will be paid out as construction is completed.
The news means the province is committed to its Green Trip program, said Coun. Len Bracko, who represents St. Albert on the CRB’s transit committee.
“It’s exciting news for St. Albert,” he said. “It moves it forward.”
St. Albert and Edmonton officials will meet next month to discuss the next phase of the LRT line, Bracko said.
