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Your turn: Belgravia traffic, business, and budget

· The Pulse
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This week's batch of calls for public engagement includes in-person sessions discussing traffic congestion in Belgravia, an Edmonton Chamber of Commerce survey about the municipal budget, and a questionnaire for St. Albert businesses.

Edmonton's city administration will host engagement sessions in Belgravia until the end of April to talk about potential interventions to optimize the road network and reduce shortcutting. There is no online survey. In the first phase of engagement in 2025, residents were invited to share their experience with congestion and traffic flow, in a bid to understand the nuances of mobility in the neighbourhood, the city said.

The roadways that surround and bisect Belgravia are considerably congested during rush hour periods because of heavy use from drivers going to and from the University of Alberta and the Groat Road Bridge, as well as those waiting for the LRT on the line running along 114 Street NW. The $100,000 budget for the project comes from the priority growth area project, which proactively upzoned properties near the university to prepare for denser development.

The engagement sessions will be used to further refine the list of potential measures that were gathered in the first round. In the long term, administration will consider redesigning 114 Street where it intersects with 87 Avenue, University Avenue, and 72 Avenue, and increasing capacity for the westbound Whitemud Drive off-ramp at Fox Drive. Traffic at these intersections often backs up all the way to Belgravia, which is why some choose to shortcut through the neighbourhood, the city said. At 114 Street and 87 Avenue, administration proposed installing a scramble crosswalk and restricting left turns from westbound traffic.

In the shorter term, administration will also consider closing 76 Avenue west of the LRT tracks at 114 Street for three hours during weekday rush hour. Potential improvements also include several changes along University Avenue to better manage queueing and create safer crossings for pedestrians and drivers. Within the neighbourhood, administration will consider closing some segments of roads and converting some to one-way traffic in an effort to stop shortcutting.

Administration said it will consider public input alongside technical, budget, and policy requirements to come up with the final design, which will be a mix of potential solutions. Council would need to approve funding to implement any improvements. If the final design is approved, administration said construction would start on 76 Avenue and 114 Street first, and would then move on to University Avenue and the neighbourhood improvements only if necessary.

Residents can register to attend in-person sessions on April 25 or 29, or they can book a meeting with a project team member on April 28 or 30.

Vehicles queue on a two-lane road next to a construction site.

Vehicles queue on 76 Avenue west of 114 Street. The city is considering closing this segment of road in an attempt to reduce shortcutting through Belgravia. (Stephanie Swensrude)

Here are some other opportunities to provide input in the Edmonton metro region:

"Your turn" is Taproot's weekly collection of public engagement opportunities in the Edmonton region. Watch this space every week for opportunities to make your views known. If you know of a request for public input, send it to hello@taprootedmonton.ca.