The NAIT station on the Metro LRT line will stay right where it is for now.

Councillors discussed the idea on Wednesday in response to a query raised by Mayor Don Iveson after city staff warned about traffic delays around the NAIT LRT station.

Iveson asked city staff to look into the possibility of moving NAIT station across Princess Elizabeth Avenue, so the tracks would not impede traffic. Transportation General Manager Dorian Wandzura said based on projections from 2009, a move would cost approximately $20 million.

Coun. Dave Loken said that to do anything besides leaving the station where it is would be "futile, and an absolute waste of money."

Last month, councillors were alarmed to learn that drivers could wait as long as 16 minutes during rush hour. However, traffic turned out not be be as bad as predicted, so the idea the move NAIT station was dropped.

Drivers are only seeing a ten-minute delay.

"The projections of mass mayhem … have not been realised," Loken said.

Even so, Coun. Bev Esslinger said feedback from the communities along the route have been "less than positive." She said residents aren't happy about the traffic delays.

While councillors agreed the traffic at 111th Street and Princess Elizabeth Avenue is an issue, they voted not to do anything about it for now.

NAIT station is only temporary. It will eventually be moved to the Blatchford development on the former City Centre Airport lands.City administrators told council if they chose to spend money to ease traffic in the short term, the problems would only come back when the permanent station was built.

City staff said they would continue to try to mitigate traffic problems as much as possible, and are still encouraging people to use a different route.

They expect problems to flare up again in the winter, when traffic jams are more common all over the city.

The city can consider raising the tracks so they don't intersect with the road when they begin relocating the station to its permanent location in five to 10 years.