Calgary’s C-Train system has been in a state of continuous capital planning for extensions since its inception. Most of Calgary Transit’s short- to medium-range capital planning schema derives from its 2006 document “Strategic Development of Calgary’s C-Train System”, a document that tries to anticipate C-Train system needs in Calgary over a 15-year interval. Although Calgary Transit and the City make efforts to project a longer view of their light rail planning strategy, such attempts are frequently overtaken by current events and by the unexpectedly rapid growth in Calgary’s population. Consequently, some of the plans listed below would by definition be more feasible under reasonable technical and budget expectations than others.
The current capital plans for Line 201 would see it built out and expanded to its penultimate form by 2018 (Calgary Transit, 2006d:4), with the possibility of a southward two-station extension beyond 2026 (2008d:4). Line 201’s northwest leg would be completed in 2011 with a 2.2-kilometre single-station extension from Crowfoot Station in the median of Crowchild Trail to Tuscany/Rocky Ridge Station, adjacent to the Rocky Ridge Road right of way (City of Calgary, 2007j:12). The southern leg would see the lengthening of its C-Train platforms from Victoria Park/Stampede to Fish Creek/Lacombe to accommodate four-car trains by 2015, with similar improvements to stations on the northwest leg being completed by 2018 (2006d:9). Two further stops on the south leg of Line 201 have been proposed for Silverado Station, near a new subdivision at 194 Avenue SW, and for 212 Avenue Station, but the opening of these stations before 2026 is not at present being contemplated (2008d:4).
Early gains in the length of the northeast leg of Line 202 will be tempered by relatively slow growth in ensuing years. Two stations extending northeast from McKnight/Westwinds — Martindale Station, a set of platforms running through a dedicated parkway within the northern portion of the Martindale subdivision, and Saddletowne Station, on the northwest arc of Saddletowne Circle NE between 60 Street and 80 Avenue NE — have been approved for construction and for commencement of revenue service in 2011 (City of Calgary, 2007j:12). Service for four-car C-Trains would be instituted for the whole of Line 202 upon the extension of C-Train platforms from Bridgeland/Memorial to Whitehorn by 2021 (Calgary Transit, 2006d:9). A long-range forecast for residential development further northeast in Calgary makes provisions (City of Calgary, 2006b:19) for three additional C-Train stations in the median of 60 Street NE near Airport Trail, Country Hills Boulevard, and 128 Avenue NE, and for a fourth near Barlow Trail and 128 Avenue NE, but none of these stations are expected to be in service prior to 2026 (Calgary Transit, 2008d:4).
Conversely, the six-station, 7.7-kilometre west leg of Line 202 (City of Calgary, 2008c) is expected to be substantially complete by 2012 (City of Calgary, 2007j:12), with only one station being mulled for long-range expansion. The extension would leave the downtown core along Seventh Avenue SW, crossing 11 Street SW and traversing the northern boundary of Shaw Millennium Park toward an elevate guideway stopping at Sunalta Station, near the intersection of 10 Avenue and 16 Street SW. The guide would continue west parallel to the Canadian Pacific Railway and skirt the interchange of Crowchild Trail and Bow Trail SW before settling into its own surface right of way on the north flank of Bow Trail and shopping at Shaganappi Station, adjacent to 26 Street SW. At 33 Street SW, Line 202 would enter and underground portal and turn underneath the current Ernest Manning High School site to arrive at the C-Train’s first metro station, Westbrook Station. After a turn underneath 17 Avenue SW, the line would surface at 41 Street SW onto a dedicated surface right of way on the north flank of 17 Avenue to stop at 45 Street Station. Line 202 would continue west onto a dedicated bridge across Sarcee Trail SW and onto a right of way with a stop at Signal Hill Station, adjacent to Costello Boulevard and Sirocco Drive SW. From there, the line would enter an underground portal at Simcoe Boulevard SW and come to a stop underneath 17 Avenue SW at 69 Street Station for its 2012 debut. A 1.7-kilometre extension across 85 Street SW to a potential Aspen Woods Station is not expected to open prior to 2026 (Calgary Transit, 2008d:4).
Even though a functional study has been commissioned by the City of Calgary to investigate and to document by the end of 2008 the technical and financial implications of constructing a metro to accommodate necessary long-range improvements to C-Train service through the centre of Calgary (City of Calgary, 2007j:13), the only current project for upgrading downtown light rail transportation is the series of platform renovations and pedestrian realm enhancements for the current Seventh Avenue transit corridor derived from plans presented to the city by Graham Edmunds Carter and Sturgess Architecture in 2004. Through a combination of renovations in place and of platform relocations, the Seventh Avenue platforms are to be lengthened to serve four-car C-Trains, integrated more closely with existing and future commercial developments along Seventh Avenue, and enhanced with public art, landscaping, and passenger amenities over several phases by 2012 (2004:29-33). Both the Stephen Avenue Metro, meant to accommodate Line 201 downtown, and a long-range Seventh Avenue Metro, where downtown service for Line 202 would ultimately be relocated, are referenced in passing as part of 1982’s “City Hall Area Redevelopment Plan”, in which a proposed Central Station serving both lines would concentrate passenger debarkation, transfer, and amenity spaces in the vicinity of the Calgary Municipal Building (City of Calgary, 1982:28-30). By the same token, an Eau Claire Metro running under Second Street SW from Second Avenue to Tenth Avenue SW, designed for future southeast light rail service, was identified as the more viable option in that line’s engineering study (Clifton ND Lea et alia, 2004:36-37). In all available research documentation, however, the only downtown C-Train system improvement on offer under a specific and current timeline is indeed the Seventh Avenue corridor renovation.
Light rail service to the southeast area of the city is one of two longer-range C-Train system extensions under active consideration between 2021 and 2026 (Calgary Transit, 2006d:4). The southeast leg, provisionally identifiable as Line 203, is planned to start from the downtown core at an underground Eau Claire Station, where Second Street and Second Avenue SW intersect. The Eau Claire Metro described above would continue beneath Second Street SW to an interchange stop, Central Station, at Sixth Avenue with connections to Lines 201 and 202. From there, the line would turn underground to follow Tenth Avenue SW to Volunteer Way Station, at the Centre Street intersection. Line 203 would surface east of Macleod Trail SE and continue to Olympic Way Station, adjacent to Fourth Street SE, and cross the Elbow River, paralleling the Canadian Pacific right of way from that point (Clifton ND Lea et alia, 2004:35), to Inglewood/Ramsay Station, at the intersection of 11 Avenue and 11 Street SE; to Crossroads Station, near the intersection of 11 Street and 26 Avenue SE; to Highfield Station, near the intersection of Highfield Boulevard and Ogden Road SE; to Lynnwood Station, where Ogden Road meets Millican Road SE; to Ogden Station, near the intersection of 69 Avenue and 69 Avenue SE; and thence to South Hill Station, at a realigned 85 Avenue and Shepard Road SE. The line would then run parallel to 24 Street SE, where a private developer (Remington Development Corporation, 2008) has proposed a Quarry Park Station at 100 Avenue SE, before ending its initial stage in 2021 at Douglasdale Station, at the intersection of 114 Avenue and 29 Street SE. Further stations would be built in 2026 or later (Calgary Transit, 2008d:4) to serve Shepard, Prestwick, McKenzie Towne, Auburn Bay, the Southeastern Health Campus, and Seton.
The final C-Train line being investigated for construction in the 2026 timeframe would be the north-central leg, which as a conceived spur of Line 202 (Calgary Transit, 2006c:27) could reasonably be identified as Line 202X. This leg would be constructed in close proximity to the Nose Creek Valley, with stops at Eighth Avenue NE, 32 Avenue NE, 64 Avenue NE, and Airport Trail NE. Line 202X would then closely follow Airport Trail NE for two stops before entering the median of Harvest Hills Boulevard N to serve stations near Harvest Oak Gate, Country Hills Boulevard, Panamount Boulevard, Symons Valley Parkway, Highway 566, and Range Road 272. Very little investigation of this right of way has thus far been completed, although functional studies from 2007 are presently under way (Calgary Transit, 2008d:5-6).
Works Cited
Calgary Transit (2006c). North Central Calgary Transit Corridor Review”. URL as of 25 Mar 2008 http://www.calgarytransit.com/pdf/north_central_calgary_transit_corridor_review.pdf
Calgary Transit (2006d). “Strategic Development of Calgary’s C-Train System”. URL as of 24 Mar 2008 http://www.calgarytransit.com/pdf/LRT_STRATEGIC_DEVELOPMENT_update.pdf
Calgary Transit (2008d). “South Nose Creek Planning Area: North Central LRT Alignment Options”. URL as of 24 Mar 2008 http://publicaccess.calgary.ca/lldm01/livelink.exe?func=ccpa.general&msgID=WKcssssAcO&msgAction=Download
City of Calgary (1982). “City Hall Area Redevelopment Plan”. URL as of 25 Mar 2008 http://www.calgary.ca/docgallery/bu/planning/pdf/city_hall_arp.pdf
City of Calgary (2006b). “Northeast Regional Policy Plan”. URL as of 20 Mar 2008 http://www.calgary.ca/DocGallery/BU/planning/pdf/northeast_regional_policy_plan/northeast_regional_policy_plan_one.pdf
City of Calgary (2007j). “Urgent Multi-Year Infrastructure Investments”. URL as of 20 Mar 2008 http://www.calgary.ca/docgallery/bu/mayor/lrt_rec_presentation.pdf
City of Calgary (2008c). “Council Approved West LRT Alignment”. URL as of 10 Apr 2008 http://www.calgary.ca/docgallery/bu/transportation_infrastructure/West_LRT/Council_Approved_West_LRT_Alignment.pdf
Clifton ND Lea et alia (2004). “Southeast LRT Functional Planning Study, Phase III: Glenmore Trail to Elbow River”. URL as of 26 Mar 2008 http://www.calgarytransit.com/pdf/SE_LRT_Final_Report.pdf
Graham Edmunds Carter and Sturgess Architecture (2004). “Seventh Avenue LRT Station Reconstruction and Pedestrian Environment Upgrades”. URL as of 25 Mar 2008 http://www.calgarytransit.com/pdf/7Avenue_LRT_Station_Reconstruction.pdf
Remington Development Corporation (2008). “Quarry Park: Site Access”. URL as of 25 Mar 2008 http://www.quarrypark.ca/site.html
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