17th Avenue SW: A Desire Named Streetcar
The avenue is prime streetcar territory.
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Alright. I should come clean: That isn’t my clever title. Credit goes to Don H. Pickrell with his 1992 paper titled A Desire Named Streetcar: Fantasy and Fact in Rail Transit Planning. But it reflects perfectly my contribution to The Sprawl Soapbox.
17th Avenue SW should have a streetcar.
Calgary’s inner core used to be criss-crossed with streetcars. From Bowness to Ogden, streetcars were a staple of commuting in Calgary in the first half of the 20th century before their conspiratorial demise.
Streetcars these days very closely resemble low floor LRTs like the ones planned for the Green Line here in Calgary. In fact, other than train length, there is little difference in the technology.
The main difference lies in their core purpose.
Streetcars Enhance Walking, Not Commuting
There are places where streetcars have done exceptionally well. In Toronto, four of the TTC’s five most heavily used surface routes are streetcars. In Portland, a $54.5 million streetcar line has resulted in over $3.5 billion of new investment around the line.
These kinds of high ridership and improved property values are evidence that streetcars can work well, if done right.
So what makes a streetcar work? I have pulled some ideas from Jeff Speck’s Walkable Cities, and supplemented them with my own thoughts and ideas. In my view, for a streetcar to be successful it must have these two key ingredients:
- Benefit from extended walkability: Walkable streets are great, but we are only willing to walk so far on even the best of days. A streetcar can really shine when there is a long stretch of walkable space, where transit can be thought of as enhanced walking. Streets pedestrians already frequent are good places to start.
- Connection to longer-range transit: A streetcar service needs to connect to more high-volume service to be viable. In Calgary’s case, this means a connection to the LRT system is probably a must for any streetcar service to draw riders from all over the city.
17th Avenue SW is Prime Streetcar Territory
Arguably, the best location for a streetcar line is 17th. This probably does not come as a surprise; there has been a simmering desire to restore the 17 Avenue streetcar in some capacity. A potential line would run from inside the Stampede grounds and, heading west, following 17 Ave.
On the west end, the possibilities are many: A jog over to 12 Ave S to connect with Sunalta Station, a left at 14 Street up to Marda Loop, a right on 8 St to downtown reminiscent of the “Beltline loop” from days past.
As far as meeting the criteria above, it does the best job of any location. The avenue is already heavily trafficked by pedestrians, and the Stampede grounds provide an extra source of pedestrian traffic for the steady stream of events that happen there. It is a long corridor, so a streetcar would allow residents and visitors alike to visit more of the abundant shops, restaurants, and parks offered along the way. Ingredient #1 is certainly met.
Connection with the LRT would be simple at Victoria Park Station on the east end. On the west end, Sunalta, Kerby, or even Westbrook station are possible candidates to connect the line with the rest of the city. There is even existing work being done looking at re-aligning both of the Stampede stations on the Red Line, allowing a better interface of 17 Avenue with the Stampede grounds. #2 is met.
Re-think 17th, Re-think Transit
In 2014, the City looked at the feasibility of streetcars in Calgary and suggested dedicated bus lanes as an alternative solution to improving core mobility. As of today, though, there are no dedicated bus lanes in the downtown or the surrounding core area.
It’s important that we get over the stigma of streetcars being a slow, dated technology that was easily replaced by buses. Streetcars, like any permanent transit infrastructure, are tools that shape cities as much as they move people.
They have shaped our city in the past, and it’s time we take a serious look at how they shape our city in the future.
