ABOUT
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE NORTH ZONE?
The North Zone includes the communities of Thorncliffe-Greenview, Huntington Hills, Beddington, Country Hills, Aurora Business Park, Harvest Hills, Country Hills, Panorama Hills, Coventry Village, Livingston, Carrington.
As Green Line leaves downtown and runs at-grade along Centre Street, this will give access to new transit service, but also means that changes to Centre Street will impact the mobility network in the broader area and that the BRT service will need to adapt. This presents us with an opportunity to explore what improvements are needed to allow our transportation network to continue to function in a convenient and efficent way and also look at enhancements to the North Central BRT.
The projects in this zone include:
What is the North Mobility Studies project?
A mobility study reviews the efficiency of the transportation network, including traffic calming and traffic flow, safety, accessibility, parking, connectivity, and more. The information needed for the study is collected by a variety of ways including public input, technical analysis and forecasting. The results of the study help identify issues and challenges with the transportation network, and develop measures to enable the network to accommodate the continued growth of Calgary. At The City, we are committed to providing a safe, reliable and efficient transportation system that supports all modes of travel, including walking, wheeling, taking transit, and driving. We know that Calgarians and visitors are going to move differently throughout Calgary with the addition of the LRT and BRT, especially along Center Street North. Given this information, we are conducting a variety of studies called the North Mobility Studies to project how current travel patterns may change as a result of Green Line operations on opening day (2027) and into the future.
What is the North Central BRT Study project?
The North Central BRT Study will consider improvements from downtown along the existing Centre Street and Harvest Hills Boulevard route to 160th Avenue North Improvements will benefit transit customers by providing a more direct, reliable service and customer experience by upgrading the existing BRT route up Centre Street to a MAX BRT. MAX provides riders with maximum convenience, maximum reliability, maximum comfort, and maximum efficiency to get transit riders where they need to go.
Calgary Transit customers have consistently told us that reliability, safety, value for money/quality and convenience are some of the most important aspects of their transit trip. MAX BRT provides customers with:
- Convenience – fewer stops, signal priority, queue jumps, dedicated lanes, next bus arrival time displays.
- Travel time and reliability – use of transit priority infrastructure gets customers to destinations faster and more reliably.
- Comfort and safety – enhanced lighting, heated shelters, larger platforms.
- Connections – access to more major destinations, and fewer transfers to get to final destinations.
What is the Bow River project?
The new Bow River LRT bridge will change Calgary’s landscape as the bridge crosses the Bow River and Prince’s Island to connect Centre Street N to Eau Claire. It will change how we travel in the City, providing new opportunities for transit, cycling and pedestrians, and connecting people and communities. Through this project we are planning the form and feautres of the new Bow River bridge.
While this project touches the south zone, there is a separate engagement process for this project. Please click here to learn more and get involved.
Extensive feedback we’ve heard in the past will be used as we continue functional planning.
Through our engagement in this phase we were looking to:
- Learn how Calgarians travel through their neighborhoods, and connect to important destinations and other parts the City
- Identify what's currently working within the transportation network and what needs to be improved
- Examine the best locations for stations to provide access to key destinations in your community
- Explore your BRT service priorities and desires for amenity improvements
- Learn how you currently use and access transit service in your community
For more detailed information on these projects, please ensure you check out the project main page.
MAPS
Green Line conceptual alignment along Centre Street N* as presented to Council in July 2020
STUDY AREA MAP
The North Zone is the area outlined in black on the map below.
Potential BRT improvements that were presented to Council in July 2020 and that are under investigation
BRT CONSIDERATIONS
We are investigating the below on-street transit options.
*The cross-sections below have been created with Streetmix
We are investigating queue jumps as an optimization option.
Queue jump lanes are reserved for buses at signalized intersections. Buses enter their own lane and get an advanced green light before other vehicles at the intersection, allowing them to get ahead of traffic and eliminate congestion delays.
PAST ENGAGEMENT
Extensive feedback that we have heard through past engagement will continue to be used by the project team as we advance functional planning.
Common themes that we have heard through past engagement include:
Mobility & Function
- Citizens value a walkable and accessible community and want to see enhancements to pedestrian and cycling infrastructure to improve connectivity.
- Citizens are concerned about the traffic impacts on Centre Street, with the reduction in vehicle capacity and impacts to the surrounding network, increased traffic and reduced access through the local community.
- Citizens have shared concerns about the loss of on-street parking, the availability of parking during peak hours and recognize this as being important to support the local businesses.
- Citizens have shared concerns regarding the unwelcoming and unsafe pedestrian environment on Centre Street/ Edmonton Trail, largely attributed to the speed and volume of traffic during peak hours.
Green & Healthy
- Citizens have a desire for ‘people-first’ strategy, want to see a reduction of car use and improve alternate mobility choices.
- Citizens value green space and have a desire to increase, preserve and protect current green and open spaces in the area.
- Citizens shared strong value for mature trees and tree-lined streets and want to see these maintained and protected.
Community & Character
- Citizens value a walkable and accessible community and want to see enhancements to pedestrian and cycling infrastructure to improve connectivity.
- Citizens are concerned about the traffic impacts on Centre Street, with the reduction in vehicle capacity and impacts to the surrounding network, increased traffic and reduced access through the local community.
- Citizens have shared concerns about the loss of on-street parking, the availability of parking during peak hours and recognize this as being important to support the local businesses.
- Citizens have shared concerns regarding the unwelcoming and unsafe pedestrian environment on Centre Street/ Edmonton Trail, largely attributed to the speed and volume of traffic during peak hours.
Economic & Development
- Citizens have shared a desire for a diversity of housing types throughout the surrounding communities and see this as important to the future success of the Main Streets.
- Citizens value many of the existing services and businesses in the area and would like to see new businesses and complementary uses to create a vibrant community for residents, and a destination for visitors.
to review all of the past engagement that has occured over the years, please visit the engagement archive.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
From November 23 through December 13, 2020 we were engaging Calgarians and collecting input to inform our functional plans. This phase was about hearing about your ideas and challenges before plans are developed.
In this phase of engagement we hosted:
- Two Public Information sessions on November 26 & 28
- If you were unable to attend an information session, watch the November 26 session here.
- Four zone specific workshops on December 1, 2, 3 & 5.
While engagement for this phase is now closed, you can click through to tabs to see some of the comments from your neighbours. Feedback gathered in this phase of engagement will be used to help inform concepts and plans that we will bring back to Calgarians for feedback and comments in 2021.
To stay up-to-date on future engagement opportunities, please ensure that you sign up for our e-newsletter
SHOW US!
There are two maps for you to provide feedback on in this section.
- Understanding your important places
- Understanding your daily travel
TELL US!
There is one section here for you to provide input on.
UNDERSTANDING BRT SERVICES & AMENITIES
Click "start questions" to share your ideas on a series of questions related to the North Central BRT
EVALUATE ENGAGEMENT
NEXT STEPS
After the close of this phase of engagement, all input provided will be analyzed by The City and summarized in a What We Heard Report that will be shared back with the community.
The project team will continue their technical analysis and studies over the coming months and this, combined with the input provided will be used to inform concepts and ideas that we will present back to the public for feedback and evaluation in early 2021.
We will share details on the next phase of engagement on this page as they become available. Be sure to subscribe to our email newsletter to stay up-to-date on future opportunities to get involved.
All projects will present their recommendations, plans and costs estimates to Committee & Council for approval later in 2021.
