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“That’s just not acceptable,” Loken said. “People have been waiting and waiting and waiting.

“When you hear things like it might take 3o years to get out to the northwest, that’s just not acceptable.”

Loken said he’s been talking northwest LRT with constituents since he first ran in 2003. The northwest leg has had an approved concept plan for almost a decade and it’s always been next in line after the west LRT, Loken said, so it’s not right for the South LRT to butt in.

“I’ve been a team player,” Loken said. “But if that’s the way it looks like we’re going, then I’m going to have to take the gloves off and get political about it.”

Facing off against Loken was Michael Walters, who represents a south central ward.

“We know south Edmonton, and particularly southwest Edmonton, is the fastest growing part of Edmonton,” Walters said. “It has the most residential housing construction. The demand for housing between Edmonton and the airport is significant and we have massive transportation challenges.”

The decision should be data driven, not political, Walters said. It should be based on where the biggest transportation problems are, where transit-oriented development is most likely to be built, and what will provide the most economic benefit to the city.

Of course, Walters has a sense what the data will tell us.

“I feel south Edmonton has a great case,” he said.

Loken has his own political considerations in the form of an electoral challenge from those in his Ward 3 who say they would do a better job of standing up for that area’s interests. One challenger, Jon Dziadyk, has made this a key part of his platform, highlighting issues like some crumbling infrastructure around Beaumaris Lake in Castle Downs.