Edmonton North Light Rail Transit (LRT) Planning Study - Never a Dull Moment

The City of Edmonton is facing enormous challenges. Located in the oil-rich Province of Alberta, Edmonton has been booming over recent years and building more and more single family homes and major arterial roadways to serve new residential neighborhoods. In 1978, Edmonton was the first city in North America with a population of less than one million to open a light rail transit (LRT) system. However, as experienced in many major cities, there has been a lack of funding for transit over the past 15 years and very little has occurred to expand the LRT system and to boost ridership. Strategic city plans now speak about significant changes to Edmonton’s urban form through more public transit and concentrating higher density development at transit nodes. The North LRT Planning Study was initiated in June 2007 with an objective of defining a route for a 3km LRT extension from Downtown Edmonton to the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT). This paper will discuss the technical challenges associated with this $825 million project, the integration of transit oriented development (TOD) and land use planning, the trials and tribulations of public consultations and how the project team overcame major curve balls that were introduced throughout the project.