Edmonton City Council will knowingly destroy West Jasper Place with the LRT for Wealthy Property Developers

 by Dennis Cambly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I see it as the most racist and discriminatory move as a part of the West Valley Line through the neighborhooods in West Jasper Place. The LRT or trolley car aka Bus on Rails will plough down Stony Plain Road effectively killing every small business. It was very easy to walk from home down Stony Pl Rd to the Bank, Pharmacy, Post Office, Grocery stores while stopping into a corner store. Now people will need to drive to further west or make their way to Meadowlark Mall. We don't expect it will be easy to drive to Meadowlark when construction begins on 156 Street.

 The X on the map shows where TD and Safeway have already closed their doors. Edmonton council who have likely never visited the area easily voted to wipe out existing businesses. The long red arrow shows the area where buildings have been demolished and will be demolished. Same thoughtless procedure is underway on the south side of Stony Plain Road.

I found it amazing to hear a city councilor say the area only had sex shops, prostitutes and pawn shows. He must have missed the hundreds of other businesses including No Frills, Shoppers, dozens of neighborhood restaurants serving foods from multiple countries, along with London Drugs, Starbucks, Dollarama, Safeway and other big brand stores. Small businesses run by people who came to this country and built up a business have been and are being shut down. It has a lot to do with the area being populated by those people who will no longer be a problem. 

For those who commute to work by a vehicle coming into the city via Highway 16A are in for a surprise. (You can expand the top diagram by clicking on it) Considering it took 4 years to construct a small bridge across the river there will be years of construction at the corner of Stony Plain Road and 156 Street including 100 Avenue. Traffic on 100 Avenue averages 25,000 vehiciles per hour during the morning and evening commute. I am guessing the same would be true of Stony Plain Road. 

It is odd the company doing the survey prior to construction did not find the concrete block in the river. They could have asked me or 1000s of other Edmontonians about it since we knew it was laying on the river bed. We pulled a fellow who had too much to drink out of the river near the old bridge. He was very lucky since a small piece of that concrete held him up enough not to drown. It must be better to spent millions of dollars than be honest with the voters.

Take a real close look at the diagram above and please let me know where in the world a train can make a 90 degree turn. When I attended one of the many meetings I asked one of the engineers what they had in mind with the 90 degree turn and he looked rather dumbfounded. The train tracks will need to go behind the former Grant MacEwan Campus to make the corner and stop at the station. You will no longer be able to use Stony Plain Road as you travel east or west. As far as 100th Avenue goes two trains parked at the station, or moving like a snail, should make for an interesting wait time east or west.

It also means the businesses from 156 Street to 167 Street will be cut off from traffic due to councilors and city planners who never traveled the area. The big X is what the developers are eagerly waiting to build 12 to 14 floor condos. Both sides of Stony Plain Road from 142 Street to 156 Street will also be lined with up to 12 floor condos. They are the wood framed floor condos Edmonton city council approved of for the developers. I am sure the Fire Department is thrilled about them as they are about how they will respond to a fire in the area. The Fire Station is located north of 156 Street and Stony Plain Road. Good luck getting to a house or apartment fire with trains blocking the intersection. Those trolley cars sure do move slow especially when they hit a 90 degree turn. Perhaps the entire intersection will rotate.

The train then heads south on 156 Street to 89 Avenue where it makes another 90 degree turn on it's way to West Edmonton Mall then to Lewis Housing district. 

It is very sad what the city is doing about the former Grant MacEwan Campus. City council said in one of their 100s of reports they wanted to reposition the campus as a hub for the community. They put their imaginations together and came up with the name Orange Hub. 

The building sat vacant for almost four years since the last students used it. Twenty non-profit organizations met with the city committee that invited them to discuss a community based plan. All of the groups work with the Food Bank, housing, community based events, work with everyone regardless of race, creed, color etc. Disclosure: (I volunteer with one of the groups). At present every one of the community organizations have locations scattered around West Jasper Place. 

All twenty were turned down by city council. The current mayor and council decided to stay away from community based groups and jump into the Canada Council trough. It'snot what you know when it comes to Canada Council it's all about who you blow. Alberta Arts council jumped in with $25 million and a non-profit company gathered up the money to take over Grant MacEwan campus aka Orange Hub along with another pig at the trough.

A few non-profits from West Jasper Place were kicked out of the building by city council. In the brochure Building a City around the LRT it reads; Establish land uses around LRT stations to
reflect the characteristics of its surrounding areas and each station’s role in the LRT network. An integrated community system with an emphasis on housing, shopping, pedestrians and bicycles with reduced car use.

I have big news for mayor and council we had all of that before you bulldozed and bullied your way into our community with a train. We do not need your train tracks nor your lies about how you would create your perfect community. As white as you are you would have been welcome to dine out in one of our restaurants owned and operated by a family from Pakistan. Unfortunately they were given a 30 day notice to vacate the building they operated out of for three decades. Nice white folks paid too much to recklessly spend our money.

 

Published by Dennis Cambly who has no relationship with a company who stole my ancestral surname dating back to Jacques Cartier and then to an area where Julius Caesar camped his armies in Italy. The company was started by an ex-Google employee with an investor from India. In my conversations with them I was told the name was simply an abstract object. If surnames are objects why didn't they use their own surnames? It's appauling that a corporation is allowed to use someone's surname and confuse later generations as to the ancestry of the name.

 

 

What the People of Edmonton Should Know about the Cost of the LRT at Election Time

by Dennis Cambly

As we move towards the Edmonton municipal election I could not help notice how the media coverage has been next to none. There is never any talk about the economic side or as we may call it how much does the Mayor and Council spend each year. What projects get the majority of the money and others such as roads get very little. We still drive cars in Edmonton regardless of the $100 million spent on bike lanes used six months of the year. Many of our main roads are in horrible condition. Ask any driver if you are unaware of the road conditions. The city in the meantime have hit us will slogan after slogan: The Greening of Edmonton, Touch the Water, Build for Two Million, Smart City, Ribbon of Green, Edmonton River Valley Ice Strategy and One Million More. 

Those are a few otherwise I would go on for another page of wonderful window dressing on the cost we pay. It doesn't matter which way you look at it we pay from Federal Payments, Provincial Payment and City Taxes it all comes down to one taxpayer at a time. The city of Edmonton uses some of the sneakiest ways to get our money of them all.

First due to name changes by city council this line goes downtown along Stony Plain Road, 104 Avenue, to West Edmonton Mall. It is commonly called Valley Line West and is expected to take five to six years to complete beginning in 2021. Construction has begun near West Edmonton Mall so you won't notice the traffic problems and destruction in between.

In order to assist you and ensure you don't get too confused the next diagram is the West LRT aka Bus on Rails I am writing for you information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Due to the massive impact I find it best to provide you with the most recent diagrams of the route with its 16 stations/stops from downtown. The train will move onto 104th Avenue at 107 Street.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now we travel along 104th Avenue and the first traffic snag we hit is 109th Street and 104 Avenue. There is one lane of traffic east and west along 104 with the train I mean LRT or Long Rail Trolley moving slow in both directions. 

During construction this major intersection will detour you somewhere far from your destination. Getting into and out of any businesses up to 116 Street will be difficult at any time. Pity the business on both sides of 104 Avenue after being hard hit by a pandemic followed by years of construction. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we come 116th Street intersection once again under construction. 116th Street is another major road for those moving north and south as is 109 Street. You can expect this part to be under construction for two or three years. I am basing this on the amount of time the beautification and narrowing of Jasper Avenue is taking. 

Jasper construction should hit 116 Street about the same time as 116 Street and 104 Avenue. Bike lanes are a top priority in our northern city, so you can leave your vehicle at home, and take a bike. Great planning deserves praise for the 100 people riding a bike during our mild six months of winter.

It is a tight squeeze along 104 Avenue at the best of times so prepare yourself for an even tighter squeeze. At some point along the section from 116 to another busy intersection at 124 Street there will be little to no room for any vehicles during and after construction. 

The train will be at ground level since the city never looked at what Vancouver did with their Sky Train. At least Vancouver calls it a train. It does not run at street level causing massive traffic jams nor cause problems with bikes and pedestrians. The weather in Vancouver is in deep contrast to the Edmonton freeze-up starting in October through to April. When it is +10c in Vancouver it can easily be -36c with bitter cold winds in Edmonton from December to February. Council in Edmonton starting with Mandel decided the design should be at street level. They appear to believe this is Palm Springs.

124th Street will be a fascinating crash landing for vehicles north and south bound. Most buildings will be knocked down and all trees through to West Jasper Place will disappear as we move along 104th Street now called Stony Plain Road. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The recent updates say there will be vehicles allowed from 124 Street to the next big intersection 142 Street and Stony Plain Rd. This is where 102 Avenue meets 104 Avenue with a kind of twist turn into 142 Street. Should be fun deciding who goes first in which direction with two trains stuck at ground level along with 8 lanes of traffic north/south and east/west. There are two train tracks the same system used over 75 years ago with trolley cars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is the LRT in Edmonton Environmentally Friendly?

Mayor and Council tell us the LRT will be environmentally friendly while every part of it is depleting the planet of non-renewable resources to build and maintain. To top it off this recent chart shows where we get our electricity. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is that what we want to call environmentally friendly?

Mayor and Council did not listen to what the people of Edmonton told them. They only listen to the big developers eager to sell this obsolete system to you. It's an expensive experiment with the cost nearing $20,000,000,000.00 and rising. Council does not release costs to the media or anyone who wants to know.

However, some of us, have a extended background in economics and know where to look and how to read numbers. Example: The original estimate for the short train line from city hall to NAIT was $256 million, but, the almost final cost $2,540,000,000.00. 

Articles will be released as early as they can be written so you have a chance to decide who you will vote for in the municipal election. Think what $20 billion dollars could have done rather than build an obsolete trolley train? 

Why the media are avoiding this topic during a municipal election makes me wonder what's in it for them. (more to come)

Published by Dennis Cambly who has no relationship with a company who stole my ancestral surname dating back to Jacques Cartier and then to an area where Julius Caesar camped his armies in Italy. The company was started by an ex-Google employee with an investor from India. In my conversations with them I was told the name was simply an abstract object. My rebuttal was a simpler. If surnames are objects why didn't they use their own surnames? It's appalling that a corporation is allowed to use someone's surname and confuse later generations as to the ancestry of the name.