Latest news with #Janz
Global News
3 days ago
- Business
- Global News
Crews break ground on Edmonton's Capital Line south LRT extension
The City of Edmonton is marking a milestone for transit in the city on Thursday, putting shovels in the ground for the Capital Line LRT south extension. It comes as the city deals with a growing population. Edmonton transit users at Century Park, like Penelope Siame, are eagerly awaiting the expansion of the transit system. 'I live in Allard, which is quite far (south), so it really takes a long time to get to school and get home,' said Siame. Other transit users like Isabel Luzio say taking multiple buses can make for a long commute. 'It would definitely make it easier. Currently, it's a lot more difficult with all the construction, it's not very organized,' said Luzio. That construction is work on the Capital Line South LRT extension. Story continues below advertisement The Capital Line South will run from Century Park to the Derochers/Allard neighbourhood. The 4.5-kilometre extension will run from Century Park to the Desrochers neighbourhood. Stops include Twin Brooks, the Heritage Valley park and ride, and in the Allard. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The city says the south was prioritized, as it's the fastest-growing area in the city. 'This is where we see the growth, this is where we see the largest increase in planned ridership. I think it will probably be around 15,000 people a day when we open it. It will continue to grow,' said Bruce Ferguson with the City of Edmonton. The project's budget is $1.38 billion, which includes $365 million from the provincial government. Phase 1 will build two overpasses, one underpass and two new stations. The high-floor LRT extension will run along the west side of 111 Street from Century Park station to the future Heritage Valley North station at the Heritage Valley Transit Centre and Park & Ride. Story continues below advertisement 'We are growing as a city, we have had over 140,000 people move here in the last three years. We're gonna be a city of 1.25 million people, projected by the end of this year. We can't stop building transit; we can't stop building ways for people to move,' said Edmonton city councillor Michael Janz. 1:52 Edmonton Transit Service adding 50,000 bus service hours, 20 new buses The construction is expected to take four or five years. Coun. Janz and the construction company, Ledcor, say getting the project completed on time is a priority. 'We have to keep building, but we need to do it in a way that clearly communicates to people what you can expect, where closures are going to be. We need to make it easier and more accessible for people to plan their trips so they can plan detours, plan alternatives. It's not just what we are doing, the construction, it's the how we are doing it,' said Janz. Story continues below advertisement And transit riders say they hope to see the work finished as soon as possible. 'I feel like it will make my transit shorter and I wouldn't have to take as many buses,' said Siame.
Edmonton Journal
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Edmonton Journal
City of Edmonton promoting e-bike and scooter use with 'micromobility' events
Janz said he saw 'hundreds' of pedestrians and cyclists on the High Level Bridge Sunday afternoon, while cars were gridlocked on the two lanes following the Oilers' playoff game on Sunday. He said it shows more Edmontonians are embracing alternative forms of transportation. And, he said the demographic that's been the fastest to embrace scooters and ebikes is the older set. He said seniors are looking for cheap, reliable ways to get around the city. As if on cue, a group of seniors cycled over the bridge just as the press event came to an end.
CBC
24-02-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Edmonton looking at ways to help bus riders spend less time in traffic: city report
The City of Edmonton is considering a host of measures to help make some bus routes more efficient, after new metrics showed riders on several top routes are spending too much time sitting in traffic while on board. City administration is weighing measures that would allow buses to bypass problem intersections, including adding bus lanes, changing traffic signals and implementing parking restrictions. "I see it; many of the buses right now are standing room only. We've hit record numbers of transit riders," Coun. Michael Janz told CBC News. Provincial population estimates suggest nearly 1.2 million people lived in Edmonton in 2024. The city's population has risen by about 117,000 since 2022, data shows, putting more pressure on traffic and transit services as a result. Ridership increased 15 per cent from 2023 to 2024. It's up 12 per cent from 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report that will be submitted to the city's urban planning committee at an upcoming meeting. "When you have a full bus of people standing there, sitting behind a few cars that may only have one or two people in them, that's not really fair to the folks on the bus. That's not really enticing to try and get more people out of cars onto the bus," Janz said. A misconception he often hears is that measures like bus lanes slow traffic down, he said. But the goal is to make transit more efficient and desirable, so that there are fewer motor vehicles on the road. Daniel Witte, chair of the Edmonton Transit Riders, a local advocacy group, described the program as "one of the most important" the city has taken on to speed up transit. He's excited to see specific solutions for nine priority transit corridors that were identified as hotspots for bus delays. "We really like these targeted measures because they're able to look very specifically at somewhere that may have otherwise been left behind, or forgotten about, and apply the measures that we really need," Witte said. The city report says some bus corridors that overlap with major construction projects, like the Valley Line West LRT expansion, were excluded from the shortlist. The city has a separate long-term strategy for similar traffic management measures along roads like Jasper Avenue, 97th Street, Whyte Avenue — among others. These were outlined in a memo to council in December and are part of the city's bus rapid transit system.
