1.0 Foreword
At the 2007 November 06 Special Meeting of City Council the following motion was approved in relation to West LRT:
“4. Direct the Administration to prepare a report to the 2007 November 21 Proposed Strategic Planning meeting of Council for approval of the functional design, budget and design/build implementation strategy for the West LRT
including servicing options to Mount Royal College and other potential major land uses in the west sector, e.g. Tsuu T’ina Nation lands and Westhills;”. (emphasis added)
This report documents the comparison of servicing options to Mount Royal College and other potential major land uses in the west sector, including the Tsuu T’ina Nation lands and the Westhills shopping centre.
This report is intended as a companion to the 2007 West LRT Report. Descriptions of the service area, the approved alignment, and other aspects of the project can be found in the 2007 West LRT Report.
2.0 Serving Mount Royal College
Mount Royal College is a post secondary institution with approximately 8,300 full time students, about 2,000 faculty and staff and various part time or occasional students located on the southern edge of the West LRT service area. Currently, the Mount Royal College campus is served by eight bus routes, including two express routes that provide downtown and city-wide connections including five LRT stations.
Approximately 33% of full-time student travel to and from Mount Royal College by transit (compared to 36% at SAIT and 27% at the University of Calgary).
With the implementation of West LRT, the proposed feeder bus network will see a total of nine bus routes serving Mount Royal College. Route 72 / 73 operating along 37 Street SW will provide frequent service during all time periods with less than 10 minutes travel time to / from the Westbrook station and 20 minutes to / from the Chinook station on South LRT. In the longer term, Mount Royal College would be served by an additional cross-town BRT service.
While direct LRT service to this facility would be attractive in principle, an LRT line through Mount Royal College would not effectively serve the majority of southwest Calgary and is not recommended. As part of the 1983 West LRT study, several alternatives were evaluated for a possible north / south spur line to serve Mount Royal College and Lincoln Park. Routings along Crowchild Trail / Richmond Road, 29 Street and 37 Street SW were not recommended for the following reasons which are still valid today:
· Difficulty and cost to create a Crowchild Trail connection / alignment
· Disruption to local roads and communities
· The ability of conventional bus routes to effectively serve Mount Royal College / Lincoln Park
If the main West LRT alignment was shifted to serve this area the route would be located too far south to provide an attractive service for the majority of the West LRT service area. Such a route would involve longer, less direct travel for most trips generated within the service area. Nevertheless, detailed analysis of West LRT alignment options that would provide direct service to Mount Royal College were prepared as described below.
West LRT Alignment Options to Serve Mount Royal College
Three options were explored to determine if the West LRT alignment should be redirected from the approved routing to provide direct LRT service to Mount Royal College and the Westhills Shopping Centre. A high level evaluation matrix has been developed to compare these options with the approved alignment and is provided at the end of this report. It should be cautioned that the technical feasibility of these options has not been verified based on current LRT Design Guidelines.
These options are described below and shown on Figure 1.
Option 1: Crowchild Trail
The alignment would deviate from the approved routing by heading south immediately after crossing Crowchild Trail. The LRT tracks would be on an elevated structure located on the west side of Crowchild Trail with potential station locations at 17 Avenue, 33 Avenue, and 50 Avenue. This routing would require the reconstruction of the current interchanges and bridges over Crowchild Trail. The line would then proceed west along Richard Road and Richardson Way with an at-grade station located on the west side of the Mount Royal College campus. The line would continue south and west on underground and at-grade sections running parallel to Glenmore Trail with a station at 45 Street SW before proceeding west and then north to a terminal station at Westhills Shopping Centre on Richmond Road.
Option 2: 33 Street SW
This option would proceed southward along 33 Street SW from an underground station located on 33 Street on the east side of Westbrook Mall. From here the line would proceed southward in a long tunnel under 33 Street SW which is a residential street. This routing was explored since it provides the most direct link from a station at Westbrook to Mount Royal College. A station is possible at Richmond Road SW before the line enters Mount Royal College via 44 Avenue. An at-grade station would be located at Mount Royal College in the same location as proposed in Option 1. From here, the alignment is the same as Option 1 with stations at Glenmore Trail and 45 Street and at Westhills Shopping Centre.
Option 3: 37 Street SW
This option would divert from the approved alignment at Westbrook Mall and head south along 37 Street SW either at-grade or in a tunnel. A station would be located at Richmond Road before the line enters Mount Royal College via 44 Avenue with an at-grade station on the west side of the Mount Royal College campus as described in Option 2. From here, the alignment and station locations are identical to Options 1 and 2.
Table 1 highlights some of the differences between the recommended alignment and these three options.
3.0 Serving Tsuu T’ina Nation and Westhills Areas
The West LRT alignment at Sarcee Trail and 17 Avenue provides an opportunity to reserve the potential for a future LRT spur line to serve destinations south of the main east / west alignment (shown in Figure 1). A spur line could depart from the primary alignment in the vicinity of the 17 Avenue / Sarcee Trail crossing and utilize a portion of the Sarcee Trail right of way to serve the Westhills centre and, potentially, the proposed Tsuu T’ina developments south of Glenmore Trail. Both areas are optimally served by a spur line along Sarcee Trail off the recommended alignment, rather than by an extension of Options 1, 2 or 3.
For the foreseeable future, transit service to the Westhills centre and, potentially, to developments on the Tsuu T’ina Nation will be a combination of the following:
· feeder bus routes running between the developments and LRT stations,
· community shuttle routes serving adjacent communities, and
· potential future cross-town BRT routes.
4.0 Conclusions
This report examined several West LRT alignment options to provide direct LRT service to Mount Royal College, Westhills Centre and the Tsuu T'ina lands. It is concluded that these options do not provide sufficient benefits to warrant further consideration at this time. The recommended alignment along Bow Trail and 17 Avenue SW provides service to the greatest area and will attract higher ridership at lower cost. The Mount Royal College campus, which has a high transit mode share today, will have improved transit travel times when the recommended alignment and corresponding bus network is implemented.
The design for the recommended West LRT alignment will include the potential for a spur line to travel south in the Sarcee Trail right of way to provide a connection to Westhills Centre and the potential to serve development proposed on the Tsuu T'ina land south of Glenmore Trail.
The recommended alignment is reflected in the 2007 West LRT Report.
