The clutter of signs litters the main thoroughfare so that means only one thing: it’s time to exercise your right to vote! Who is your favourite civic councillor (candidate) running in your ward or perhaps you don’t follow politics? Other important city officials include the mayor and school board trustee. Luckily, we only have to put up with this bombardment of advertising chaos every 4 years now. Are there any particular issues you want addressed in the upcoming municipal election?
No more downtown bike lanes!
Let’s “dress up” the city with so-called green Eco-friendly downtown bike lanes. NOT! The council is obsessed with bike lanes for whatever reason and is out of touch. Perhaps, if they were done right and tastefully, and took into consideration the current traffic grid. However, this is not the case and it makes downtown even more congested with the extra skinny lanes. I doubt there was a good traffic study before they shelled out $8 million for this downtown bike network. Even the pilot project of street-scaping Jasper Avenue to make it more pedestrian-friendly is an epic fail!
Sewer and infrastructure
Let’s just patch up and fill our potholes on our aging streets. That’s the answer! Hardly. Some of the projects are coming to fruition now… re-surfacing, repaving roads and upgrading sewage and drainage in old sections of the city. Some of the older Whyte area neighbourhoods are finally getting attention. Many people moved to the suburbs to live which is leading to urban sprawl so more infrastructure has to be built. This cost more money and guess what? Taxes will go up. Unfortunately, population growth is inevitable so we need to house people somewhere.
Some main thoroughfares need work
The Yellowhead Trail in the North end needs improvement as a major East-West traffic route. I avoid that area with the increasing truck traffic causing bottlenecks with aging infrastructure. In another couple of years, the thoroughfare will be undertaking a major transformation into a freeway similar to WhiteMud. Terwillegar Drive in the southwest needs to be converted to a freeway or expressway. The main artery is always congested and the on/off exit ramps are inadequate and inefficient. They were supposed to build bridges with underpasses, but that never materialized. Rabbit Hill Road won’t be twinned and expanded completely until 2025. One single bus during rush hour can back up the road for miles!
Expensive LRT
Expanding the LRT (light rail transit) system to the South East area of the city sounds great on paper. $2.7 billion is the estimate to build, maintain and operate the 13-kilometre line between downtown and Mill Woods for 30 years. OUCH! It will be done in 2023, but until then we have to put up with traffic snarls and road construction. The Metro Line was delayed for years with construction and faced software glitches. We need more ideas for alternative transportation and to improve our traffic grid i.e. electrify our fleet and rapid bus transit etc. The LRT is only one part of the puzzle and is not necessarily the best solution!
Affordable housing
Let’s follow the larger city’s lead and make “skinny houses” (In-fill) by converting a lot into sub-sections with multi-dwellings. NOT! I can understand increasing the density of housing and encouraging people to live downtown, but this will ruin the fabric of the charming communities nestled in the area. Even if the builder gets the necessary permits and follows the rules, who wants cheap affordable housing all on one lot? This two-tiered property tax scheme seems misguided to me. Some homeowners are so frustrated with the current infill policy that they’ve felt the need to take legal action to restrict increased density and redevelopment of their lands. You can’t blame them! Although there is an Alberta $1.2B affordable housing plan in the works, we need to press the City of Edmonton with its 10-year housing strategy. More subsidized housing and support for the homeless in the inner city and other poor neighbourhoods is needed.
So remember…
The number of candidates running in this civic election is staggering and you want to “count yourself in”. I want tangible results on hard issues that we face every day and accountability for our actions. Living in Western societies we often take our right to vote for granted with low voter turnout, especially in municipal elections. Be careful who you vote for this Monday (Election Day). Many pressing issues in our city need to be addressed: affordable housing, traffic, crime, crumbling infrastructure… you name it! And if the candidate up for re-election doesn’t live up to our expectations, let’s get them ousted. Now is the time to exercise your right to vote in the municipal election and get your voice heard.
