Councillors want to study LRT line to Mount Royal U, Currie Barracks

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When council approved the West LRT as a straight shot to the west side, it kept Mount Royal University as Calgary’s only major post-secondary school without train service.

A plot to fix that — some day — is in the works, with councillors set to propose a study on a spur line from Westbrook station that would link the university and the fledgling Currie Barracks neighbourhood.

Council unanimously approved a major density increase for the former military lands Tuesday, boosting the eventual population to 11,000 instead of the originally planned 7,000. Several buildings throughout the development will rise up to 30 storeys, giving much of the district East Village-style dimensions.

Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra will propose this week a one-year study of an LRT extension from the west leg. He doesn’t believe it should get built before the already planned CTrain line to southeast Calgary and up Centre Street — two legs that cover his ward.

“We’ve got a 30-year plan for Calgary Transit, and I’m certainly not asking that this queue-jump any of those,” Carra said. “I’m just saying it’s something that we should start talking about, and maybe make it part of the 31-year plan.”

Coun. Brian Pincott, who represents MRU and Currie Barracks, said the route could spur off down 37th Street S.W., though there’s no specific route set aside to get it onto the campus or the new development. There’s already a plan to serve both districts later this decade with a new BRT route on bus-only lanes along Crowchild Trail, but Pincott doesn’t believe that’s enough for the massive population coming.

The southwest councillor said this could wind up taking priority over the other future LRT plans.

“Well, it’s shorter. It’s easier and we’ve already got density,” he said.

The plan could appeal to Mayor Naheed Nenshi, a former Mount Royal professor. Before he became mayor in 2010, he slammed the West LRT alignment council chose in 2007 for ignoring what was then Mount Royal College.

Back then, LRT planners warned a 37th Street route over the original straight line down 17th Avenue S.W. would have cost an extra $230 million, and served up to 14,000 fewer passengers.

MRU president David Docherty expressed hopes for LRT service to campus when he first joined the school in 2011.

“We have longer term ambitions to get it there, should it come down one day,” he said at the time. “We will work as hard as we can to make that possible.”

The revised Currie Barracks plan envisions regular bus service, but not an LRT platform.

jmarkusoff@calgaryherald.com