We can all get involved in improving 11 and 12 Avenue.

Playing with the street: Green Line LRT in Beltline

On a Jane’s Walk through the Warehouse District of the Beltline that will see part of the new Green Line LRT, Councillor Evan Woolley suggested that the LRT is likely to come down either 11 Ave S and/or 12 Ave S, or perhaps further entwine the coupled nature of 11 and 12th Avenues by running one direction on each street. Either way, the cost to put that small section underground is prohibitively high, so it’s likely that it will run street level, which is a good thing.

It’s one thing to describe what streets may look like, but there is a wonderful application called Streetmix that lets you play with the street configuration yourself, and get a feel for how we can transform these avenues from wide-laned highways to people-oriented streets.

First, here’s a map of the area with some of the possible stations and alignments indicated.

Keep in mind that at the time of writing, the design is very preliminary, and so has a number of tentative options. Let’s see what kind of streets we can get if we put the LRT in different spots.

Here is my re-creation of the existing 11 Avenue S, facing west between 2nd and 1st Streets, southwest:

And here is 12 Avenues S at roughly the same point. I had to guesstimate on the exact width of the cycle track and bollards, but the overall street width is pretty accurate.

One of the tools in the toolbox for making better, safer streets is to decrease the lane width from 11.5-12 (3.5-3.7 m) feet down to about 10 feet (3.0m). This has been successful in many places, and has been shown to actually decrease the number of accidents by causing drivers to more attentive of their surroundings. We can use this tool to create more walkable, vibrant streets. This has been shown to be better for businesses, pedestrians, and drivers alike.

First, let’s have a look at what 11 Avenue could be like if both directions of LRT were to run there. There are a few options, including running the LRT in the centre of the road, or along one of the curbs. Here’s the curbside option – I’ll leave it to the interested reader to play with some other options (you can start with a copy of my configuration here):

There is plenty of room to include some parking, driving, and turning lanes at intersections, keeping in mind that stations would likely be set in the middle of the block (though may take up a significant portion of the block).

Now let’s see what 11 and 12 Ave might look like if the directions were separated. Here’s 11 Ave again:

I placed the train on the south side of the street to allow for a larger turning radius as it comes out of downtown, but that is something best left up to the engineers when the final plan is made.

Here’s the resulting 12 Ave:

To fit “everything” (including parking) would make for a cramped pedestrian experience. The question is then whether to remove the parking lane, and have parking on non-station streets only (this would at most eliminate two blocks worth of parking). This would require some interaction between vehicles and the LRT, but that is not unheard of. I’ll leave it again to the reader to explore some options.

Overall, I still find the 11 Avenue option best for both directions. 12 Avenue has seen great revitalization in that area (my guess in part because of the cycle track), and it would be great to see that extend to 11 Avenue (of former Electric Avenue fame). Running the LRT there would give the street a boost in terms of safety, walkability, and commerce.

How would you re-make the street? Post links to your configurations in the comments.