Transit Terminal /Enviro Recycling Centre

The transit terminal /environ project has soared from its cost estimates of 22.4 million to 29.3 million, a 6.9 million dollar increase since it was last presented to Council. Of the 22.4 million, the Provincial Green Trip fund program provided 13.6 million for the Transit Terminal.

Council was advised of the project cost overrun in January 2013 and then was faced with the 6.9 million dollar decision at the March 12^th Council meeting.

Why the Need for this Project?

In 2007/2008 administration was struggling with the lack of parking at the Transit Centres and awkward routes built for a much smaller urban area of two decades ago. In 2011, parking deteriorated when the province ended the lease for the utilities corridor on Wye Road, eliminating 400 parking spots.

Throughout this time Transit formed a plan to address the route restructuring that would increase convenience and efficiency to transit travel. It became clear that more land and a larger terminal building were required for our growing community. Administration built a case to construct a large transit centre at the Bethel site with plans to revitalize and add a building to the existing environmental yard.

But Why the 6.9 million dollar hit to our reserves?

Early in the planning, a decision was made to combine the tenders of these two projects, located on the same piece of land, to gain construction efficiencies. Unfortunately this decision limited options for Council. The risk of joining these two projects was not recognized and speaks to a need to review the process. 

We could have saved the county roughly 3.9 million dollars had we been able to do as I proposed:  defer the Enviro Building to a future time. We could not do this with the tenders joined as they were. I would have supported the Transit Terminal and asked for a tender separation to phase in the Enviro Facility at a later date.

 It strikes me as somewhat unbalanced that Council approved increased urban service with the new 3.9 million dollar Enviro Building while last year decreasing rural service by slashing our two small rural enviro centres. This is contrary to a Council budget direction to maintain current services and avoid service increases that would reflect in operational and capital spending increases.

In addition to this, consultant reports did not capture the true cost of low land reclamation or provide accurate estimates on the geophysical issues that both Administration and Council knew were inherent on that site with the end result adding millions of dollars to the overruns.

So where are we now?

 So, let’s look at what we have got. In this plan we have a Transit Terminal that is unique to the region. It is the second largest Park ‘n Ride in the Capital Region and is the third largest centre in Alberta.  There are 1200 parking spaces, which provide a response to our residents’ complaints. The centre also boasts 20 bays to handle the proposed improvements to local bus routes that will improve transit efficiency. These changes are expected to handle our growth needs into the next few decades.

 We are left with some lessons to learn and use in the future. This was not exclusively “an administrative error”, as noted in an apology from the Commissioner. The Mayor and Council were privy to every step that was taken. Leadership means taking responsibility and accountability.

The way forward?

Strathcona County is a booming community – it reminds me of where Alberta was a decade or two ago. As we build this community we must place cautious spending and wise investment at the centre of a new way of doing business, now and into the future.

References:

http://www.strathcona.ca/files/Files/at-lls-arm-2013_03_12-Report_14a.pdf

http://www.sherwoodparknews.com/2013/03/14/transit-centre-over-budget

Strathcona County Hospital

Fourteen months from now, you and I will be walking into a brand new mega medical facility, called phase one. This 130 million dollar facility will be 24/7 Urgent Care.

I noticed in one of the budget reports that there is $50 million remaining in the capital plan, including $28 million in costs after the facility opens. If $28 million has been held back for additional services in the phase 1 fiscal plan, is this not an opportunity to use it for additional diagnostics and medical services?

Planning, building and maintaining hospitals and schools is indeed under provincial jurisdiction. However, as a municipal elected official, I believe we do have a role to play. If we truly want to benefit our taxpayers, we will not blame the government for a negative economic climate that brought delays and cut backs all over Alberta, but we could instead support their efforts to get phase one up and running to offer top rate medical services to our families. We can do that by working with the community to identify a clear set of priorities for this hospital as it moves forward.

We can ask our residents and doctors to identify what services are critical (like 24-hour urgent care) and which have the highest need in our area. This will allow us as a community to better lobby for what we want. Each hospital offers a unique blend of services. What set of services is best for this community? Do we need a birthing unit or neonatal care facility; a dialysis unit or rehabilitation services?

Moreover, it is time we think regionally, let’s stop naval gazing. We need to plan not only for the needs of our own municipality...but to look at what complements the existing medical services of the hospitals near us. Doesn’t it make sense to look at the waiting lines for scopes and dialysis in Edmonton? If we had those services here, it would reduce wait times in their facilities. Once we meet our own demands we could provide additional capacity for the region.

We need to be proactive to ensure that our new mega facility will meet our needs. Let’s do needs assessment: clearly identify our service needs, create a clear list, and then lobby government for that list. By working together with local doctors and MLA's, and regional stakeholders toward a common cause, we can truly benefit the health and well being of our residents.

As to the full service phase 2 hospital, with its 72 beds - I believe that is today’s fiscal set-back, not tomorrow’s certainty.

I understand that our MLA’s have been working industriously with the Premiere and the Health Minister to keep phase 2 on the top burner. This province releases an annual budget, and as the fortunes of Alberta rise again, and if we work together with our provincial government, I can see both an expanded hospital and a new courthouse in Strathcona County in our near future. I look forward to this Friday’s Sherwood Park News and the update from our MLAs.

Join me tomorrow (Thursday from 4 to 6) at the Summerwood Second Cup to have more conversation on what your family needs in phase one opening June 2014.

ON THE BUSES

In January, a flood of complaints reached the elected officials offices about transit. The calls were from commuters – both students and people going to jobs.

I decided it was time that I got off the phone and onto the bus, so I called a friend and asked if her husband would agree to be my bus buddy for my first run from Oak Street into downtown metro. I do mean my first trip – in a few decades! I drove the Ford pickup truck to his house, realized I did not have exact change, did not even know the fare. Once my $ 5.25 was in my pocket, and we walked briskly to the stop I felt a little better. He went to the back of the bus while I got to know my fellow transit riders up front.

I spent the next few weeks taking different routes to the Edmonton Library and City Hall as well as to Grant MacEwan and the U of A run. I have to tell you I met a lot of great people – many of whom took their earplugs out and were kind enough to tell me about overcrowding and their frustrations that Strathcona County Transit does not use open data and apps to offer fundamental customer service: Trip Planners, Detours, maps and buying online….all the basics provided by Edmonton Transit. I was amazed when I got back and googled ‘Edmonton Transit’ then ‘Strathcona Transit’ the difference is like game boys compared to black and white TV! Try it – you will wonder as I did what in heck is going on.

Apparently #sctransit is an existing hashtag for twitter and facebook. When I tried it I got Santa Clarita buses! I suggest we claim back our own hash tag and use it often when we experience delays, have issues, or just want to say thanks.  

I also experienced their dissatisfaction about parking (or lack thereof). I could only console myself and my new transit friends with the fact that that new Bethal Terminal will open up in December with 1200 parking spaces.

About the overcrowding…it seemed that Transit did not handle the back from vacation volumes well at all. Apparently all the scheduled buses were operating but there were not as many additional non scheduled buses as there could have been. As a result the numbers of transit riders standing as the commuter buses rumbled from Wye and Baseline terminals into the metro area was unacceptable.

The idea of adding buses is good: overload buses are added or reduced on-the-fly as passenger volumes warrant, just not shown on the time tables. This system improves cost-effectiveness without changing published time tables. But we need to be more flexible and faster as we evaluate the transit rider volumes.

Students tell me that there is also some misalignment between when classes start and end. Seems to me we need to check out those class schedules every semester.  

One woman told me about the need for bus drivers to look before they pull out and take an extra few seconds to wait if they see someone running, slipping and sliding towards the bus door.

I have to say that the high point of almost every trip was the bus driver. They almost all smiled and greeted me and other riders. And when I asked stupid questions…like so what is the closest stop to the Sutton Place?...they did not laugh.

Each weekday, 58 buses service 27 routes and carry four thousand passengers. And best of all, they offer us almost stress free travel into a traffic congested city. We can read, tweet or just listen to our IPods as the drivers safely deliver us to school and work. That really is not a bad deal for $10.50 a day.  

See You On the Bus,

Roxanne Carr

Councilor, Ward 2, Strathcona County

Roxanne.Carr@Strathcona.ca

780.464.8002