Motorists accustomed to turning left onto 109th Street from 104th Avenue will likely have to find an alternative route in coming years, Mayor Don Iveson says.
City councillors agreed Monday at their executive committee meeting to move ahead with the proposed route for the Valley Line West LRT along 104th Avenue.
That plan includes closing the left-turn lane for westbound motorists looking to head south. The left-hand turn lane for eastbound traffic headed north is expected to stay open.
“I understand people are looking at the city through squinty eyes, wondering whether we can do this,” Iveson said. “Traffic patterns do change. I think people will adjust.”
Iveson said motorists have several options for heading south from downtown.
The proposed route for the Valley Line west has the train running down the centre of 104th Avenue, and reduces traffic from six lanes to four, with two lanes in each direction.
On average, 65 to 80 vehicles an hour turn left from 104th Avenue onto 109th Street, the city said.
“Compared to a lot of other major intersections, that’s a fairly low turning movement,” said Coun. Andrew Knack.
Knack noted that hundreds of cars go through the intersection at Stony Plain Road and 149th Street during afternoon peak hours.
Coun. Tim Cartmell thinks councillors should be able to re-evaluate the route for the Valley Line West, which was decided eight years ago. (CBC)
“There’s a number of different ways you can make a left turn, a right turn, a left turn to find your way onto 109th,” Cartmell said. “It’s not as if we’re cutting access off to the bridge. It’s just a bit more complicated.”
However, Cartmell questions council’s willingness and ability to alter or tweak the LRT route, which council agreed to in 2010.
“A lot has changed in eight years,” he said. “I don’t think what we’re doing in an informed, analytical way is testing those assumptions once we learn more things.”
The city will hold a public hearing before the route is finalized, giving people the chance to tell councillors what they think of the project.
Mayor Don Iveson says he’s confident motorists will get accustomed to new traffic patterns when the LRT opens. (CBC)
“Council has determined the route a number of times and refined and augmented those decisions,” he said. “Council has been fairly resolute in moving forward.”
Previously, corridors like 107th were suggested. But Iveson said that route doesn’t have the same access to the train that 104th Avenue would have.
The design requires a strip of land between 107th Street and 112th Street from MacEwan University for LRT infrastructure and will include sidewalks and a boulevard.
The report said MacEwan University supports the route, but the city will continue to work with the school to finalize land requirements along 104th Avenue.
Council continues to meet in private to discuss the Valley Line west LRT and has yet to reveal publicly who the contractor may be.
Iveson said he expects council will decide on a procurement contract by the end of 2018 or in early 2019.
Construction on the west LRT is not expected to begin until the mid-2020s, Iveson said.
The west leg will be the second stage of the 27-km Valley Line, which will eventually run between Mill Woods in southeast Edmonton to Lewis Farms in the west end.
The southeast portion is currently being built as a private-public partnership, led by a consortium TransEd.