Green Line advocates call for bus-only lanes, end of lane reversal on ‘broken’ Centre Street

Advocates of Calgary’s Green Line LRT are calling connected the metropolis to marque respective “transit-first” changes to Centre Street, citing uncertainty astir the LRT project’s aboriginal hold to northbound Calgary communities.

LRT connected the Green Foundation on with the Crescent Heights Village Business Improvement Area person sent a missive to the City of Calgary’s wide manager of Infrastructure Services with respective projected changes to Centre Street betwixt 4 Avenue South and 20 Avenue North.

Those changes see the imperishable removal of rush-hour lane reversals, the designation of some the northbound and southbound curb lanes arsenic bus-only lanes during unreserved hour, nationalist realm enhancements and caller postulation signals each 2 blocks to amended pedestrian crossings.

Jeff Binks, who heads LRT connected the Green, argued Centre Street is “broken” with engaged autobus routes getting stuck successful unreserved hr traffic.

“We person tens of thousands of Calgarians a time moving up and down Centre Street connected buses, and those Calgarians are stuck successful traffic,” Binks said. “It’s clip to get them retired of postulation and get them moving again.”

The 2nd signifier of Calgary’s Green Line LRT task would spot the bid enactment widen crossed the Bow River and tally up Centre Street to northbound cardinal communities.

However, the task remains successful limbo arsenic the state seeks a caller alignment for the southeast and downtown signifier of the line.

Binks said it’s clip for the City of Calgary to instrumentality a “transit-first approach” to Centre Street successful the meantime.

“We’re hoping the City of Calgary yet acknowledges reality, that Centre Street for the past fewer years has been a transit-primary thoroughfare and not truly a thoroughfare to determination cars,” helium told Global News successful an interrogation Tuesday.

Camie Leard, enforcement manager of the Crescent Heights Village BIA, said the connection to region lane reversals and make bus-only lanes would assistance with pedestrian information and amended mobility for the area.

Leard said she feels Centre Street southbound of 16 Avenue North has been a “purgatory” for caller investment, arsenic nationalist realm upgrades were acceptable to beryllium portion of the Green Line’s bluish alignment — which would necessitate the closure of the 2 centre lanes to traffic.

“It’s truly important the metropolis perpetrate to a plan,” Leard told Global News. “The country has fallen into a spot of disrepair… concern has slowed due to the fact that of that, a batch of our sidewalks are successful beauteous atrocious repair, conscionable successful anticipation of a Green Line coming through.”

In a statement, metropolis officials said they’ve received the connection from LRT connected the Green and the Crescent Heights Village BIA, noting the Centre Street corridor is the “busiest transit corridor successful the city,” with much than 1,000 buses travelling the way daily.

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“We are presently moving connected caller autobus stations on Centre Street that volition beryllium completed passim the remainder of 2024 and into 2025,” a metropolis spokesperson said successful a statement. “These caller stations volition enactment the aboriginal MAX way and immoderate dedicated autobus lanes that whitethorn beryllium added successful the coming years on the Centre Street corridor.”

According to the City of Calgary, the existent improvements are being made based connected recommendations successful the short, mean and agelong word from the North Central BRT Functional Planning Study completed successful 2021.

City assembly besides approved an further $60 cardinal successful backing for bus-rapid transit successful northbound Calgary successful 2023.

However, Binks noted those investments are for areas of Centre Street northbound of 16 Avenue N.

“If you’re spending tens of millions of dollars to marque the autobus trips faster northbound of 16th, and you don’t bash thing to code the gridlock southbound of 16th, I deliberation you’re conscionable throwing your wealth away,” Binks said.

Ward 7 Coun. Terry Wong, who represents the agelong of Centre Street successful question, said helium isn’t opposed to studying the thought but wouldn’t perpetrate to moving guardant without consultation with the community.

Wong said helium realizes the BRT buses are full, but is acrophobic with postulation volumes successful the country during unreserved hour.

“Three lanes heading downtown is precise choky arsenic it is, closing 1 lane, it would beryllium backed up beyond Centre Street,” Wong said. “I’m not sure, from a postulation perspective, if that’s a omniscient happening to bash until we find a mode to offload immoderate of that volume.”