A Calgary advocacy group is calling for an end to rush-hour lane reversals along Centre Street north of downtown and instead having lanes dedicated to transit.
The group LRT on the Green has written a letter to the city’s general manager of infrastructure suggesting the lane reversals and HOV lanes along Centre Street between 20 Avenue N and 4 Avenue S should be replaced with rush-hour bus-only lanes instead.
The group’s president Jeff Bains lives in the area and claims the changes would be beneficial to more people who would utilize the route to get in and out of downtown.
“We need to start prioritizing the people that use it,” he says. “And the number one group of users on Centre Street these days are people riding transit.”
The councillor responsible for the area isn’t convinced.
“We take a look at traffic patterns of people coming downtown in the morning,” says Ward 7 Coun. Terry Wong. “Three lanes coming down is very tight as it is, so from a traffic perspective I’m not sure it’s a wise thing until we find a way to offload some of that volume.”
Although not in favour of an immediate change to Centre Street North, Wong says he bases his decisions on what his constituents want.
Mayor Jyoti Gondek has acknowledged receiving the letter and says her team is exploring what might be possible.
“I continue to look at options to expedite transit for people who live in north Calgary,” she says. “And I think what you’re seeing from LRT on the Green is further advocacy and a very clear message that the north matters.”
Bains says the issue requires immediate attention.
“If you live in north-central Calgary, if you’re on the buses on Centre Street, you don’t have the time to wait around for debate,” he says. “You need a solution and you need a solution today.”
The LRT on the Green Foundation is advocates to get Calgary’s Green Line LRT built in its entirety from the north end of the city to the southeast.
The city and province appear to be heading towards agreement on a revised alignment for the beleaguered project that will stretch downtown Calgary to Shepard Station near the communities of McKenzie Towne and New Brighton in the southeast.