Northeast residents have more options to get into downtown Calgary starting on Monday.
Following almost three years of construction, a new, 2.9 kilometre extension of the northeast LRT officially opened to riders on August 27.
With the track, two new stations opened as well: one in Martindale and the other in Saddletowne.
8,000 commuters are expected to take advantage of the new line each day.
Many of those commuters got an unpleasant surprise on Monday morning however, when the parking lot at the Saddletowne location filled up by 7:00 am.
On-site Peace Officers told some commuters to drive to McKnight station for more parking. McKnight is further east of Saddletowne. There is no Park ‘n Ride at the Martindale station.
Aside from the parking woes, public reaction to the new stations has been generally positive.
Mac Logan, transportation manager of the City of Calgary says that the new extension will have a significant impact on traffic into the city’s downtown core.
“We estimate these two new stations will result in 364 fewer cars on the road into the downtown which means 4.5 million less vehicle kilometers and a reduction of 1,400 tonnes of CO2 emissions over the year.”
The extension carried a price tag of $142 million.
