Petition for Improvements at Planned Twin Brooks LRT Tracks

City of Edmonton Council Votes 9-3 Against Citizens' Preference

A public meeting was held at City Hall on May 3, 2023 regarding the Capital South LRT Line, including the material of construction for the community wall/fence.  On May 16th Council voted on whether it should be constructed of the material the community prefers, which is concrete.

Before the vote, Councillors were provided the March 2010 document "Century Park to Ellerslie Road Preliminary Engineering - South LRT Extension Stakeholder Information Panel Brochure", which shows that the fence will be made of stone and concrete.  

Councillors were also made aware of the City Manager's written commitment to Councillor Rice, which states that the wall will be made of the material the community prefers.  

Councillors were also made aware of this petition and the feedback from the 2022 town hall, which clearly show that the community rejects the recent change to a wood fence.

The following Councillors voted FOR the will of the citizens:

• Jennifer Rice, Karen Principe and Tim Cartmell

The following Councillors voted AGAINST the will of the citizens:

• Ashley Salvador, Sarah Hamilton, Michael Janz, Jo-Anne Wright, Andrew Knack, Aaron Paquette, Erin Rutherford, Anne Stevenson, Karen Tang

By a vote of 9-3 council has rejected the input from citizen stakeholders going back to 2010.                                  ___________________________________________________________________________

Following is a quote from the above-referenced 2010 stakeholder document:

"...You've taken an important role in shaping the south LRT's future.  The City of Edmonton and the project team would like to thank you for participating in the Stakeholder Information Panel... You've made a real contribution to your neighbourhood, and to all residents of Edmonton and area.      - The City of Edmonton LRT Expansion"

Thirteen years later that document and the public consultation process that produced it has been shown to be a waste of time and money.    It isn't difficult to see why there is low confidence in the City of Edmonton and the LRT project team.  LRT Project deficiencies with construction quality and schedule just add to the disappointment Edmontonians have with the LRT project team's performance.

City of Edmonton Discards Commitment to Councillor Rice Regarding Community Perimeter Wall

Per earlier announcements, the City Manager had provided a written commitment to Councillor Rice which indicated that the community perimeter wall along the tracks would be constructed from "materials that the community prefers".  Councillor Rice showed me the statement from the City Manager when I met with her at City Hall.  She has also informed the community by email of this commitment by City management.

However, at a meeting held last Saturday April 22, 2023 at City Hall with Mayor Amarjeet Sohi, Councillor Rice and the City Manager Andre Corbould (regarding the recent LRT station survey) the City informed the situation actually remains as follows:

"As of mid-January 2023 (and still as of mid-February 2023), a final decision has not yet been made regarding materials (i.e. concrete or wood). The project
team is still investigating the implications of a concrete wall compared to a wood fence including additional costs, significant utility challenges along 111
Street, and other construction/timeline impacts. Discussions with ATCO are ongoing, and we expect to have further details in the coming weeks.
Once all the information has been collected, it will be analyzed and a final decision regarding materials will be made. The decision will be posted on the
project webpage and shared with the communities along the LRT alignment."

The City has provided no details of why there would be "significant utility challenges" if the wall sections between the posts were made from concrete.  Many communities in the city have concrete walls.  The citizens of Twin Brooks have been told for over a decade that the wall between the community and the LRT tracks would be constructed from concrete and stone.  It is apparent that the concerns of Twin Brooks residents are being ignored because this project is inadequately funded and managed, even at this preliminary stage.  Stakeholder consultation is one of the foundations of project management, as is respecting commitments to stakeholders.

Mayor Sohi, is this the kind of municipal government Edmontonians should have?   Do Edmontonians deserve, as one resident at the town hall put it "garbage in exchange for high tax dollars"?  Councillor Rice has said to the media that Edmontonians have a low level of trust regarding LRT projects; it is also not hard to understand why this is so when City management does not respect commitments.

If you would like to write to Mayor Sohi and Councillor Rice their email adresses are amarjeet.sohi@edmonton.ca and jennifer.rice@edmonton.ca

There will also be a Capital South LRT Line Executive Committe Meeting on May 3 at City Hall open to members of the public, where scope changes will be discussed.  Speakers must register at

https://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/council-committee-meetings?utm_source=virtualaddress&utm_campaign=meetings

Response from City of Edmonton

Councillor Rice has provided the following responses to the items raised in the petition:

• "Fence Materials Adjacent to the LRT Corridor.  Based on numerous requests from the community, I was able to convince the City Manager and LRT project team to pursue building a concrete fence that is now being planned instead of a wooden fence between the LRT corridor and residential areas at Twin Brooks.  Engineering feasibility pertaining to some underground utilities still needs to be sorted out, which could have an effect on fence design."
• "Multi-use Trail.  A multi-use trail replacement plan to connect Twin Brooks with the existing Blackmud Creek trail system adjacent to the LRT line is now in the project design."
• "Community Entrance Features.  The entrance features to Twin Brooks are not expected to be impacted by LRT construction; entrance features are typically built by the developer of the community, and maintained by the community league or community organization that represents the area.  In the event that entrance features are impacted by the LRT construction, the city will collaborate with the community to ensure the appropriate mitigation is in place."

_________________________________________

In summary, while the update on the fence materials and trail is very positive, the LRT project team has not yet clarified that the fence/wall will be faced in stone material, in keeping with the nature design theme that has been promised to the community since 2010.  However the City Manager did write explicitly that the wall should be constructed from the materials that the community prefers. 

Regarding the community entrance features, the response from the LRT project team is unsatisfactory and does not acknowledge the fact that the landscaped greenbelt leading to the ravine is the entrance feature to Twin Brooks that will be impacted by the LRT construction.    Given that property taxes are about to be raised by close to 5% for the next three years due to LRT projects, one would have thought that the LRT project team would be able to include landscaping and planter construction at our two community entrances, to partially offset the negative impact of this project on the community.

Petition Presented to Councillor Rice

Many thanks to everyone who supported our Twin Brooks community and signed the petition.  The petition and list of signees were formally presented to Councillor Rice on November 8, 2022.

Councillor Rice has been discussing these items with the City administration since receiving the summary of the petition at the September 21 Town Hall meeting, and provided the following update regarding the items in the petition:

Regarding the community perimeter wall, the City administration has confirmed that a wood fence is no longer planned and the City is moving forward with a concrete barrier wall which will be covered with the materials the community prefers (ie. stone-facing materials).   Also, the LRT project team indicated that there might be other requirements related to utilities in the area that may affect the materials.  The City is conducting a new noise study with the goal of determining the noise mitigation that a wall will provide (the results of this study will not be used to justify a wood fence as the wood fence is no longer being considered).

Regarding the landscaping improvements, community entrance water feature and replacement pathway, Councillor Rice is still in discussions with the City administration and will update the community once a path forward to address these items has been established.

_____________________________________

Councillor Rice has also been working on several other items that were raised at the September 21 meeting including:

• An updated City survey on the LRT station
• Restoring access to the westbound Henday from 119 Street
• Parking restrictions to permit only Twin Brooks residents and guests to park near the LRT station through the use of a permit (as per the Century Park LRT station area in Blue Quill)

Report on Town Hall with Councillor Rice and LRT Project Team

At the town hall meeting on September 21 there was an outpouring of disapproval, dismay and frustration from several hundred residents, following the LRT Project team presentation.  Attendees were mostly from Twin Brooks, with a small number from Skyrattler and a few from other communities.

Twin Brooks residents are unhappy that the LRT tracks will replace the greenspace and impinge on the community; entrances to the community will be LRT crossings; the perimeter wall has been changed to a low-budget wood fence with no noise mitigation; and the lack of community consultation on decisions made by the LRT Project team.

Skyrattler residents are unhappy that the tree-covered berm greenspace along 111 Street will be demolished and replaced with a fence.

The root cause of most issues is the decision to run the LRT tracks down the west side of 111 Street instead of the centre of 111 Street, like the existing tracks.

I noted the following comments in the Q and A session and following it:

• why do we pay high property taxes to have our neighbourhood cheapened?
• they promised an aesthetically pleasing community wall and are instead providing a cheap and ugly fence with no noise shielding.
• we are getting garbage in exchange for our tax dollars.
• traffic will be backed up at the LRT crossings on 9th and 12th Avenues.
• for the over $1B cost of this project, the City could have replaced all polluting ETS buses with zero emission buses, which would have helped the environment far more.
• considering the low utilization of the Capital Line (fewer than 4% of Edmontonians make a daily return trip on any part of it, according to a City of Edmonton study and only 1% of Edmontonians use the Century Park Station) the LRT extension project is not worth the cost to taxpayers and detriment of Twin Brooks and Skyrattler.

A resident asked for a show of hands as to who would still want the station if the money budgeted for the station could be used for other improvements.  Under 10 percent prefer having the station and over 90 percent would prefer the money be spent on upgrades to the wall and other improvements.

Councillor Rice was presented with a copy of the petition and a list of supporters, as of Sept. 21.  She said that she will review it and decide on the next steps.

Please continue to sign the petition as support by residents will be needed for changes to be made.  The intent of the petition is to be inclusive and start a process whereby the community has more say in this project.  The petition will remain open as long as residents keep signing.   Thank you.

Meeting with Councillor Rice - LRT Tracks

Thank you for signing the "Petition for Improvements at Planned Twin Brooks LRT Tracks".   To date, in just over a week, over 120 residents have signed.

Councillor Rice has emailed the attached notice regarding a meeting for Twin Brooks residents at the George P. Nicholson School gymnasium, this Wednesday September 21, from 7pm - 9pm. 

Hope to see you there, together we can achieve good things for our community.

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