Expect LRT Service to Mount Royal College

Wrong Way! The future west leg of the LRT is a poorly-designed scheme which will not adequately serve the needs of residents as currently proposed. The line must be re-routed further south through Mount Royal College so as to create the best usage of the LRT.

The current proposal will have the LRT running down Bow Trail and 17th Ave SW over to the Westside Recreation Centre, where parking will be built for commuters wishing to take the train.

However, the rest of the line will run through primarly low-density residential areas. Modern light-rail systems require plenty of mixed density residential areas in order to keep ridership levels high and also to serve a wide variety of social and economic demographics. Either many homes along Bow Trail and 17th Ave SW will be bought out by high-rise developers, or the C-Train itself will suffer from low-ridership.

More troubling is the threat that Calgary’s soon-to-be newest university will be left without LRT service for the coming decade. Not only is Mount Royal College one of the city’s premier undergraduate colleges, its extension division offers plenty educational opportunities for professional and working classes.

It is not too late to change the mayor’s untenable plan! Feasibility studies exist for a LRT line which goes through Garrision Woods, Mount Royal College and beyond. The line can pass through the MRC campus on its way to the Westside Recreation Centre which will benefit both suburban commuters and MRC students alike.

With mixed-use residential areas already functioning in Garrision Woods and near Westhills, and with the increasing influx of students at MRC, there is a ready-made market for residents who desire an effective transit solution.

You can still reverse the decision to place the west LRT through low-density neighbourhoods. Make this election a referendum on poor LRT planning policies. A vote for Sandy Jenkins is a vote for a LRT line to Mount Royal College.

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