Edmonton's light-rail transit (LRT) enjoyed a big boost in early April from the provincial government, which announced the first allocation of its Green Transit Incentives Program (GreenTRIP) cash.
The government will support the city's plan to extend its existing LRT system from the downtown Churchill Station to Grant MacEwan University and then on to the NAIT campus through $497 million in capital funding. The next stop on the line beyond NAIT would be the city centre airport lands, which are envisioned for major higher-density redevelopment. The LRT stations are already being eyed as high-density residenial anchors, according to city planners.
The $2 billion GreenTRIP program provides one-time capital funding that will support new and expanded public transit throughout Alberta.
Ironically, while the provincial government was announcing LRT funding for Edmonton in the middle of a federal election, Conservative MPs in Calgary were being quoted in the media as criticizing that city's lack of progress on a southeast LRT line - even though it lacks federal funding.
– Compiled by Dave Husdal
from Western Investor June 2011
