Calgary TransitCamp: The Centre Street Solution for Calgary’s North-Central Communities

Calgary TransitCamp is a new civic action group dedicated to executing citizen solutions for Calgary’s transit challenges. We will be regularly posting transit related blogs on CivicCamp.org. Today’s installment is written by Peter Schreyvers.

Calgary’s Light Rail Transit (LRT) network currently consists of two routes comprising three legs emanating from the downtown. The Northwest and South lines run together as Route 201 and the Northeast line runs by itself as Route 202. The West line currently under construction will extend the Route 202 line. However, Calgary Transit’s long term plans include two additional legs of the LRT: the Southeast line, planned to run from the South Hospital (currently under construction) to Eau Claire via a subway under Second Street SW downtown, and the North Central LRT.

The current plan for the North Central LRT is to run it adjacent to the CPR rail corridor along Nose Creek, just to the west of Deerfoot Trail, from Memorial Drive north towards 96 Avenue NE (Airport Trail). From 96 Avenue NE, the route will jog to the west to continue along the median of Harvest Hills Boulevard as it heads north to the communities of Country Hills and Panorama Hills and beyond in the future. The plan for this alignment is to merge with the Northeast line just before the Zoo station and continue into the downtown via Seventh Avenue.

However, the Nose Creek alignment has its detractors (this author included), who believe the Nose Creek alignment is flawed and should be re-examined. The recently elected mayor, Naheed Nenshi, in fact campaigned in part on a re-examination of the Nose Creek alignment, suggesting a subway located under Centre Street, continuing from the Eau Claire station on the Southeast line, is a preferable (although more expensive) option. While each route has its advantages and disadvantages, it is important for us as Calgarians to fully understand all the implications of each route before we as a city make a decision about how to carry out this important piece of transit infrastructure for our future.

Although covering all the details in depth is a daunting task, we can touch on some of the major issues that should be discussed when comparing these two routes. Some of these issues will be discussed in greater detail in future posts.

(This post compares just two options for the North Central LRT — Nose Creek and Centre Street. Other alignments are possible, such as Edmonton Trail or maybe even Fourth Street, but the discussion will focus on just Nose Creek and Centre Street for simplicity’s sake.)

1.  Where the People Are

Perhaps the greatest upside of running the transit route along Centre Street instead of Nose Creek is that the Centre Street alignment goes where people live. Looking at the graphics of each route, it is easy to see that the Centre Street route is adjacent to considerably more homes, businesses and activities than the Nose Creek route. Take a minute to compare the route images of the two alignments and the location of the stations (note that the stations shown are conceptual only).

A look at the Centre Street route image shows a route running along a commercial street (Centre Street) with offices and shops on either side of the street for a multitude of blocks (from approximately Eighth Avenue to 29 Avenue N), surrounded on either side by residences and other developments like schools, parks and shopping areas. As the route moves north, it passes by more schools and shops as well as other uses like churches, libraries and recreation centres. In fact, the entire route, from approximately Eighth Avenue N to Beddington Trail, is surrounded on either side by considerable development and existing communities with numerous activities and uses. The areas within a 600-metre walking distance to the stations, shown by light circles in the image, are full of development and include no gaps.

Development around the Nose Creek alignment, on the other hand, is sparse in comparison. The route passes adjacent to the Science Centre currently under construction and some manufacturing development in Greenview Industrial, but little else. Most of the alignment is separated from existing communities not just by distance, but by a steep escarpment on one side, where building construction is difficult if not impossible, and Deerfoot Trail, an eight-lane freeway, on the other. For most of the route, the Nose Creek alignment passes through barren, undeveloped and mostly undevelopable land. In contrast to the Centre Street alignment, the areas within walking distance of the stations contain little if any development, and often those areas within walking distance are separated from the stations by difficult terrain such as escarpments or large roads.

Comparing the images of the two routes easily demonstrates that the Centre Street alignment can serve substantially more people (both residences and businesses) within a walking distance with its stations.

2.  Where the People Will Be

Not only does the Centre Street alignment go where more people and businesses are now, but the potential for future growth around the stations is much higher. This is not only because Centre Street, and north-central Calgary in general, is such a good area for new growth, but also because Nose Creek is such a bad area for new growth as well.

Centre Street has all the elements that can support new growth that will enhance the current communities and build upon their success and character. These elements include existing amenities (residential, commercial and institutional such as schools and libraries) and a grid street pattern.

Existing amenities help attract new residents, who don’t have to worry about waiting for shops and grocery stores to open up around them, not to mention libraries, parks and schools. Development in existing areas can therefore be done gradually, as each new development makes use of the existing amenities in the area. The growth can go at any pace it needs to, thus reducing the risk to developers (both commercial and residential) who may be wary of investing in an area where amenities or residents are not guaranteed to follow. Homebuyers are more confident in purchasing a home where stores and schools exist nearby rather than a home where there is only a promise that others will follow.

A grid street pattern helps facilitate growth as well, as it makes access to transit and other amenities by walking easier. A grid street pattern ensures the shortest walking distance to any location and therefore makes walking all the easier for existing and future residents. Not only does a grid street pattern make walking easier, it also makes development simpler and more rational. It is more straightforward to convert four homes located side by side, all on rectangular parcels, into a new development, than to take odd shaped parcels and try to build something new on them. The grid pattern reduces wasted space and makes development more cost effective. This benefits not only developers, but existing residents as well, as more residents encourage more amenities and less space is wasted in the community.

Nose Creek, in contrast, not only lacks elements that are conducive to growth (existing residential, commercial and institutional development), it includes many elements that serve as barriers to growth. These barriers include environmentally sensitive areas, unbuildable areas, an existing train line in operation, industrial development, major road infrastructure and environmental remediation constraints.

Much of the area around Nose Creek is in fact environmentally sensitive, consisting of the habitat created by the creek itself. Environmental regulations restrict building close to these areas, thus reducing the amount of space available for development. Additionally, development in this area would compromise the existing parks and pathways around the creek, thus reducing their enjoyment by the rest of the City. But it is not just the environmentally sensitive area around the creek itself that is not developable; the escarpments to the east, existing memorial forests and former landfill sites located along the line are not practical for development for various reasons.

Even those areas that can physically be developed are extremely unattractive for future residential or commercial development. These areas are adjacent to an operational railway line and a freeway, which create disrupting noise for residents and businesses. Furthermore, the only really suitable area for development is an existing industrial area, Greenview Industrial. Any future residential construction in this area would be difficult to build, because developers would have to try and sell homes surrounded by industrial properties to potential homebuyers, which is hardly a developer’s preferred option.

3.  Where the Bus is Now

When comparing the Centre Street and Nose Creek alignments for the North Central LRT, we should account for the location of existing transit routes. Perhaps the most important route to consider is Route 301, which runs directly along where the Centre Street LRT would run, which is of course Centre Street. The 301 has the highest ridership of any bus route in Calgary, carrying 14,550 passengers on a typical weekday, and 80 passengers per revenue operating hour. In comparison, Route 302 between downtown and southeast Calgary carries 2,800 passengers on a typical weekday, and 21 passengers per revenue operating hour; Route 305 from Bowness to Forest Lawn carries 5,220 passengers on a typical weekday, and 39 passengers per revenue operating hour; and the C-Train system carries 253,800 passengers on a typical weekday, and 435 passengers per revenue operating hour. Route 301 has been in operation since 2004.

The importance of Route 301 to the North Central LRT lies in the decision of what to do with it once the LRT is built. With the Centre Street alignment, the answer is simple; the LRT will simply replace the route. Stations along the LRT alignment can be placed approximately where the stations for the 301 are now, which will reduce the transition for bus riders to the LRT. Those who have chosen to live near the 301 stations will be provided an increased level of service, and reinforcing residents’ decisions to live near transit is a good way to encourage transit usage throughout the city. The travel patterns that residents in this area have developed around transit over the last seven years will be unaffected.

However, with the Nose Creek alignment, there are two options for the 301, neither of them good. First, the route can be eliminated. This option is poor because any existing riders on the 301 living south of Beddington Trail will have to find a new way to get to their LRT stations, all of which will be difficult to access and will cost riders time in the form of feeder buses to their station. Those riders who currently walk to Route 301 stations will suffer a drastic reduction in quality of service, and those who chose to live near the 301 for the transit service it provided will be punished with the elimination of the line to which they chose to live near. The ridership that has been built up over the last seven years will be reduced, and any proximity advantages that residents or businesses gained from locating adjacent to the 301 will be lost.

The other option with the Nose Creek alignment will be to continue the 301 service. This option is equally poor. Most residents that live in communities south of Beddington Trail will be better served by the 301 than the Nose Creek LRT alignment, as it is closer to them, and therefore few will take it. LRT stations in the Nose Creek corridor will go underused, reducing the cost effectiveness of both the stations’ construction and the operation of the line. Not only will the LRT stations go underused, but the 301, with its higher operating costs per passenger, will continue, and thus eliminating any operating savings that the North Central LRT could have brought. If the 301 remains in operation, the Nose Creek alignment essentially forces two separate transit services to be provided for one area, both of them poor.

Editor’s Note:  This posting will be continued very soon!