Calgary Light Rail Transit

Reaching out┬áKeith Regan learns how CalgaryÔÇÖs light rail transit system is growing in a green manner, roaring past construction and design challenges and keeping community relations in the front car.  The residents of Calgary, Alberta, have consistently shown that theyÔÇÖll use the Calgary Light Rail Transit, or CTrain system, from the time the first station and small section of track line opened to riders from 7th Avenue in downtown to Anderson Road in 1981.  Over that time, the City has invested $1 billion CDN to develop a robust, three-line radial LRT system closely integrated with a complementary bus network. On an average weekday, more than 280,000 people ride the LRT system, a number likely to grow as the City looks to geographically expand the network even farther into the communities to the west, northwest and northeast of the city center, says Gordon Stewart, manager, LRT projects. ÔÇ£There has been a significant commitment made from the City on up through the provincial and federal levels in support of the light rail system,ÔÇØ Stewart says. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖre taking the LRT out to where the riders are coming from.ÔÇØA host of projects are either just being completed, are under construction, or are in the planning stages, including line extensions, new stations, a new maintenance facility, and upgrades to older stations and other existing facilities. The current or recent projects represent $750 million worth of investment in the system, Stewart notes. Work has been focused on bringing the LRT farther out into new communities that didnÔÇÖt previously have access to the service. The Northeast line has been extended significantly already, and more work is under way. In December 2007, a 2.9-kilometer extension from Whitehorn to a new station at McKnight-Westwinds opened for service. That project included a new maintenance facility to be completed this year, as well as a new park-and-ride center capable of handling 950 cars. Another stage of work on that line is about to begin, with another two stations at Martindale and Saddle Ridge and 2.9 additional kilometers of line to be opened by 2012, according to Michael Hinton, project manager on the Northeast line. ÔÇ£The operating extension has been very well received and is seeing strong ridership numbers,ÔÇØ says Hinton. On the Northwest line, a June grand opening was held for an extension that first began in 2004 as part of a road widening and intersection improvement project and expanded to an LRT extension and two interchanges. The new track extends CTrain service from the previous end of the line at Dalhousie to a new station at Crowfoot. The extension was actually built in the median of an existing expressway, which required portions of the roadway to be lowered significantly without disrupting traffic for the more than 50,000 cars that traveled the route daily.The next Northwest LRT extension, a 2.5-km extension to Rocky Ridge/Tuscany from Crowfoot, has just started construction. Project manager Andy Esarte says challenges include crossing the provincial transportation utility corridor at a point where an expressway connects to a freeway. However, this jurisdictional conflict became an opportunity, as the City of Calgary worked with the Province of Alberta in the plans to construct a new connection between the roadways. ÔÇ£We were able to make the decision to jointly tender the two projects in a single package that would become two contracts, so that we could ensure weÔÇÖd have the same contractor working on the highway work and the transit structures,ÔÇØ Esarte says.Sustainability is a major goal of the LRT extensions, with area commuters eager to leave cars behind in favor of the cleaner-running electric railcars. In fact, those commuters can rest assured knowing they are making a green choice, because Calgary Transit has pledged to buy all the power used to run the system from commercial wind sources. ÔÇ£ThatÔÇÖs a decision the City made a while back as part of a larger commitment to sustainability,ÔÇØ Stewart says. ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs not as if weÔÇÖve built wind turbines on top of the stations, but we are sourcing that power from commercial wind sources, and we know thatÔÇÖs something that our riders respond to and take pride in knowing.ÔÇØThe project managers also take pride in having a strong track record of positive community involvement and interaction. ÔÇ£We follow an engagement policy with definitive guidelines for consulting extensively with all stakeholders,ÔÇØ Stewart says. Open houses are held at each stage of project design and construction and the City has received positive feedback on the way LRT construction projects have been implemented in heavily congested communities or through locationsÔÇösuch as the expressway mediansÔÇöthat could have caused significant conflicts. ÔÇ£We work hard to make sure everyone at least knows whatÔÇÖs going on and has a chance to be heard.ÔÇØ For instance, on the Northeast line extension now under way, Hinton notes that community concerns were addressed through implementation of the CityÔÇÖs noise policy, resulting in sound barriers being provided along some portions of the right-of-way and visual screening along others. Additionally, safety enhancements are included at the Martindale station, with trains stopping to load and unload passengers before crossing a busy street at grade level. Now that the downtown core of the LRT system is more than 25 years old, the City is undertaking upgrades, which include reconstruction of five downtown stations. The largest new initiative is the creation of a West line, first conceived in the 1980s and recently revisited and funded. The West line will enable the system to reach some 80,000 people living in the southwest part of the city, with 115,000 new customers expected to be on the line by 2015. Valued at more than $750 million, the City hopes to have a design-build contractor in place for the West line project by fall 2009. ÔÇ£ThereÔÇÖs been a major commitment made to build out the system and bring more riders on board,ÔÇØ Stewart says. ÔÇ£We found when the economy was going strong, ridership was up, and now that things have slowed down, ridership is still up. We know the demand is out there.ÔÇØ ÔÇô Editorial research by Richard Halfhide┬á