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More than 65 years after the last trolley rolled down 8th Avenue, the City of Calgary is considering a proposal to connect Mount Royal University (MRU) to the Blue Line LRT via the implementation of a modern, low-floor streetcar-operated spur line. Designed to connect the campus to Westbrook Station, the spur line would cover just eight stops, travelling north from campus up 37th Street SW, east along 17th Avenue SW, and then north once more along 25th Street SW at which point it would deliver passengers to the Blue Line.
Proposed as an eventual replacement for the controversial Southwest BRT line which is currently set to connect MRU to the Blue Line LRT along a dedicated corridor, the spur line would serve as a much more permanent transit solution for MRU's 65,000 students. Furthermore, past political decisions resulted in the complete bypass of the campus by the Blue Line LRT during its most recent westward expansion, and the addition of the streetcar line would go a long way to remediating the long-term effects of what many consider an example of poor planning.
Viewed in the cross-sectional diagram above, the proposed streetcar spur line would operate either in mixed traffic or in its own right-of-way, an arrangement that would most likely call for a reduction of road space for automobiles. This last point, perhaps on par with anticipated costs, will more than likely be at the centre of the heated debate. For now little more than a pipe dream, the proposal will wend its way through City Hall for a more in-depth study, while the future of transit in the city, including the planned construction of the Green Line LRT, appears for the moment to be taking a page from Calgary's not-so-distant past.
SkyriseCalgary will be sure to return to this important file as the story continues to develop.
