EDMONTON - Thousands of Edmonton Transit passengers are going to see another side of downtown next week when a major bus detour starts on Jasper Avenue.
About 20 routes that normally use Jasper between 100th Street and 102nd Street will be shifted starting April 7, mainly to 102nd Avenue, in anticipation of construction, ETS official Ken Koropeski said Thursday.
“There will be one lane of traffic in each direction during the construction period,” said Koropeski, director of service development and fleet support.
“It’s not going to leave any opportunity for us to operate bus stops — it would block traffic, and make many of the turning movements we do (difficult).”
The road is being torn up so the roof of the Central LRT station can be waterproofed and damage caused by years of leaks can be repaired.
At the same time, medians are being removed, sidewalks widened and the number of driving lanes reduced as the first step in a plan to update Jasper and make it more pedestrian friendly from 97th Street to 111th Street.
Work is expected to start in early May, but the detours begin in April due to the time needed for ETS to plan and communicate such extensive changes, Koropeski said.
A couple of routes will be switched south to Macdonald Drive, and there may be delays for some buses travelling through the area on 101st Street.
The project is expected to wrap up by the end of 2013.
ETS will look at how the detours affect passengers before deciding whether to keep the changes in place next winter, when construction will be put on hold and the road temporarily widened to four lanes, Koropeski said.
The detours involve some of the busiest routes in the system, such as the 100 Express to West Edmonton Mall from downtown.
For some runs, the changes will add five to seven minutes to a ride in either direction, said Koropeski, adding the extra travel time will cost ETS about $9,000 a week.
“I would hope that our passengers take the opportunity to read the information that will be provided on the bus and go to our website to plan their trips. There’s always an adjustment period.”
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