Expect Faster, Safer Service with Underground LRT

If Calgary wishes to continue its robust growth and still maintain a positive quality of public transportation, the time has come to prioritize moving the LRT under 8th Avenue.

The LRT is running at capacity at the moment. Adding one more car to the train will merely delay the capacity issue a few years down the road. The trains cannot be made any longer than 4 cars due to the size of the downtown city blocks, and adding more tracks throughout the city will not and can not change this dilemma.

The LRT is becoming notoriously unsafe. Because there are few systems in place to check for tickets, and because of the Free-Fare Zone in the downtown core, any hooligan can loiter on platforms and ride the rails with impunity.

Safety is also a concern when one considers that pedestrians and motorists are at risk of an unwinnable collision with a train at any of the treacherous intersections downtown.

The city has had an underground LRT plan since 1970 and some infrastructure still exists to accommodate this, including an unused train station located under City Hall.

To place the LRT underneath 8th Avenue, it will cost approximately $500 million, a price which can be easily financed over the next 30 years.

Sandy Jenkins will propose making the building of an LRT line underneath 8th Avenue SW a top priority for infrastructure developments. The 5-car trains will not be slowed by light changes downtown, and proper turnstiles and security will allow citizens to travel swiftly and safely to and from their destinations.

Calgary expects to become a world-class city, and an underground LRT will allow it to become just that.

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