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Edmonton residents have been “duped” into accepting an LRT system that is far different than the urban-style train sold to city council, say angry Glenora residents.

Concept designs show a train running down tracks in the middle of a tree-lined street with heritage homes.

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In reality, that urban-style LRT didn’t fit, several Glenora residents told council’s executive committee Monday.

Instead, LRT planners have designated 1,120 trees for destruction, including all the mature American elms that currently line Stony Plain Road. LRT designers are also planning to take out roughly 20 homes, several of them dating back to the early 1900s, said residents.

The numbers were revealed in Monday’s report to committee. There was little to no mention of these impacts at the series of open houses held about the project.

“We’ve been duped, basically,” said resident Walter Pavlic, calling on council to find an alternative, even if it means losing lanes for traffic. A city plan to replace the trees with 1,800 small saplings is not adequate, he said.