The Campbell Road Transit Centre must be built now to meet current and future needs.  And to provide up to 1600 park and ride stalls.

Why can’t extra parking stalls be located in and around the current Village Tree Transit Center site?  Then the City could forego the expense of the Campbell Road Transit Center.

Rationale in support of the Campbell facility is in four parts.

First, it is to serve current and future needs.  The most pressing need is for more park and ride stalls that must be next to the transit terminus.  Putting them any distance away will fail as it did at Servus Place.

Long term benefits are detailed on this St. Albert link:

http://www.stalbert.ca/southtransit#Question2><http://www.stalbert.ca/southtransit#Question2>

Secondly, building the Campbell Road Transit Centre supports the future of LRT in St. Albert. Building it will firm up the current alignment of the north leg of Edmonton’s LRT system.  This alignment must be defined regardless of whether it is constructed in the next 5, 10, 20 or even 50 years.  To abandon the Campbell site is to release the north leg of the LRT to alternative alignments that may or may not include St. Albert.

The third point is regarding finances.  We can count on provincial (state) and federal government support.  Edmonton’s LRT was supported provincially and federally. St. Albert will not bear the cost alone.   Funding for the required alignment study is necessary.  Before any commitment of tax support is made, the project will have to be much more mature and the full amount of other government support clearly defined.

Finally, it will demonstrate St. Albert’s willingness to participate in a regional public transit service which means increased cost efficiencies and effective service.  It expands the capacity for disabled transportation services without the acquisition of costly rolling stock (buses).

St. Albert should persevere and construct the Campbell Road Transit Centre which will signal St. Albert’s commitment to provide regional transit service.