ALBERTA VOTES 2008

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Election Blog Squad

Trainsportation

February 15, 2008 | 04:03 PM
PaulPaul Bellows

A huge issue for me is Alberta's roads and highways. The Queen Elizabeth II Highway is getting busier every year and even three lanes all the way from Calgary to Edmonton doesn't seem to be enough on the days that I have to do a morning commute.

As Edmonton becomes more and more of a hub for transportation (i.e. Prince Rupert's growth as a deep water port, Fort McMurray as an ever-growing destination, southern Alberta's growing energy economy), more and more pressure is going to be placed on what is mostly a north-south highway system that is already inadequate.

I love the idea of high speed trains as a solution: safer, cheaper, greener and faster. Although I love my stop at the Donut Mill in Red Deer on the way up or down, I'm sure anyone else who makes the commute regularly starts to go a little squirrelly at about hour two and a quarter.

They're saying that it will be a $4 billion price tag and at least three to four years to get a train between Edmonton and Calgary, which sounds imposing at first, but Alberta Infrastructure is spending $4.6 billion on highways in the 2007-2010 budget period. And highways aren't directly cost-recovery, while a train can be. Not that we can stop maintaining roads, but over 20 years, a high speed train could slowly recoup on the investment, while highways will continue to deteriorate and need maintenance.

You can see where some of the money is being spent and here.

In addition, it seems to me that if we reduce the demand on our highways from business and commuter traffic, we also reduce the cost of maintenance.

But what do I know, I just make virtual highways...

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Comments: (1)

Craig Williams (Edmonton) wrote:

As an Edmontonian/ Albertan I have seen little progress in the provinces planning in rail infrastructure. I have traveled to over 100 cities in 30 countries and I can tell you one thing, the best cities and less congested countries I have ever been to have had the best Metro, LRT, High speed rail etc..... and they all connect (from the city metro to the airport to the surrounding suburbs to the next city over etc...). There is a Train called the MAGLEV in Shanghai that travels at over 400km/hr. Imagine getting to Calgary in less than an hour, or Fort Mac in one hour. Instead of expanding the highway to Fort Mac spend the money on a train with connections to all the big oil sands projects. And even better yet, one from Fort Mac - Edmonton – Red Deer - Calgary - Banff. Does the free market industry or the govt realize the money to be made off of that. An hour and a half to the ski hills in Banff from Edmonton. Get the ski hills, the municipal governments, the provincial government and the oil companies to invest and put their names on the train etc... and advertise it as a break through in global warming..... (since the oil companies have little or nothing to post under their Environment sections anyway). It irritates me every time I am on a high speed train in some other country and am going to a city just as far as Edmonton – Calgary and I get there in 1hr or 45 min and I think why can’t Alberta with all it’s ingenuity and money do that? Think how many lives that would save on the QE2 and the police and emergency crews that could be used for better things. The reduction on maintenance and road costs and the removal of pollution form the air. If China, Singapore, Taiwan could modernize and build their advanced network of rail and passenger trains in less than 15 years why couldn’t we?

Posted February 20, 2008 08:06 PM

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