Blindsided and flabbergasted, Ward 6 Ald. Joe Connelly couldn’t be less impressed with the city’s revised plan for the West LRT.
Connelly said the new “cheap route” proposal stands to split his ward in two and trash the aesthetics of the community, and he wants the entire route buried — especially at the intersection of 17 Ave. SW and 45 St.
“They’ve timed a fire truck coming out of there in heavy traffic and it took 90 seconds just to leave the property,” Connelly said. “The police have serious concerns, the fire department has serious concerns, and the city sits there with their heads in the sand choosing to ignore it all. Ridiculous.”
Mayor Dave Bronconnier said while the revised plan should assuage the privacy concerns of Sunalta-Scarbro residents who didn’t want the elevated lines peering into their backyards, he’s well aware more concerns, like the one brought forward by Connelly, will arise.
“Until the project is complete and a finished sign is pounded into the ground, there’s going to be outstanding issues,” Bronconnier said. “There always is with these kinds of major infrastructure projects.”
–neil.mackinnon@metronews.ca
