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New Home for Greyhound Edmonton??


roeco

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It's reported in the Edmonton SUn that I cant seem to add to here that Greyhound has applied to re zone their current Garange/Maintenance facility at 12521-123 St as a New Depot location?? I wonder if this could even be feasible, however the lack of public transit is an issue. I guess Greyhound could Lease another facility in the short term 18-24 months for a Maintenance location and demolish most if not all of the current facility and build a New Depot!! Does anyone even know where the closest transit is...and who knows could Greyhound work out a deal with ETS for service to the new depot...it is possible.. ?? But I guess since they have not had much luck getting a piece of land to build a new terminal...This may be their only Option since they already Own the Land..!

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Here is the news article:

http://www.edmontonsun.com/2014/05/18/search-is-on-for-new-greyhound-station-location

If they moved all service to the back (requiring a cleanup of the "graveyard" back there), and had the front area as a pickup/dropoff zone there might be enough for parking too but it would be tight. Definite lack of transit service there!

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4 blocks to 127 St isn't the end of the world in terms of transit connections. It's almost 4 blocks to Jasper Ave or the LRT from the present location.

You then have a few routes that can actually get you to a reasonable number of places in the city pretty fast (Kingsway/ Downtown, WEM, Northgate).

Dunno how the Calgary trips would work... would they really run the bus all the way north and miss Downtown? Or have a Downtown drop off?

I would imagine they would have a shuttle to Downtown.

Unfortunately, with the development lately Downtown a central Downtown location is unlikely. Using the garage is likely the cheapest option imaginable, so I wouldn't be surprised if First continued to push for that. A better option would be along the LRT somewhere.

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That area is a pain to get into and out of. I can't imagine have it all plugged up with cabs and people picking up and dropping off.

yes thats is true, something will have to be done about access if that happens

Here is the news article:

http://www.edmontonsun.com/2014/05/18/search-is-on-for-new-greyhound-station-location

If they moved all service to the back (requiring a cleanup of the "graveyard" back there), and had the front area as a pickup/dropoff zone there might be enough for parking too but it would be tight. Definite lack of transit service there!

I think in terms of the site...as a business point it makes sense since they own the land...! MAybe a parkade??

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If you have seen inside the maintenance facility, I don't see it being possible, and there really isn't much room around the building when it's all said and done. Where would the passenger waiting area be?? Major renovations would be required, and they would loose maintenance space. And let's not forget GCX, where would they end up if they used the garage space as a terminal?? The site simply isn't big enough to accommodate all 3.

With all that said, I do like Vancouver's set up, maybe they can come up with something like that. You could have a main terminal with ticket sales, as well as restaurants, and gift shops with doors that lead to a loading platform.

But what about in the meantime? It's kind of a shame, as they did know that this was coming, and seemingly are scrambling at the "last minute".

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If you look at it overall...They don't really need as big of a terminal as they currently have as they have less schedules now , building up is not an issue for admin offices/etc....All they really need is something about half the size for departures/arrivals for parking buses...A terminal with waiting area about the same size..And a space for GCX(which could even be moved off site if need be)And plus the maintenance facility built in..These days u can get quite creative in terms of building on a smaller footprint. ...Vancouver's Gcx is separate from the actual depot. It could work...However the access is something to be desired....! Also with the current depot it is about the same distance to catch an actual transit bus...about 2-3 blocks depends where u want to go!


Actually mcooknell you are right...Vancouver's set up was very well thought out and very well planned and fits the operation Very Well..And should be a carbon copy for other depots across North America..Excellent transit...share station with Via...good food options (mcD's) perfect location a ton of parking...and lots of space for all..! I always wondered why Via and Greyhound could not have done the same in Edmonton for a passenger Only terminal anyways...

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Thiis garage? Whats on either side of this garage? Other buildings? Open Space? If Greyhound can buy the place next door they could easily just tear down the building and build a smaller depot there?

If it was that easy, I'm sure they would do it. However, the last time I checked, the building next door isn't up for sale and you can't just throw money at a someone and say "I own your property, I'm going to tear it down and build what I want."

When I left Greyhound, their maintenance facility was up for sale, however, looking at the real estate company's website, I couldn't find the ad, so I'm not 100% sure on the status of ownership on the building so maybe something has been in the works?

Here's a link to the location on Google maps.

https://www.google.ca/maps/place/12521+123+St+NW/@53.5814344,-113.5329837,392m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x53a0238d9c04e233:0xf99d76ae9beed8da

You'll see that there isn't much room on the property itself to build another building and expanding south doesn't really add much room to build and expanding towards the east isn't possible due to the CN yard.

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  • 4 months later...

Another article has recently popped up about New Edmonton Greyhound location and they are going ahead with the rezoning of the maintenance terminal scheduled for hearing Nov 3. They are looking at a few other spots too and from what I hear one may possibly be a former car dealership, which in reality would be an Ideal location. The former show room could be passenger waiting area, service bays/shop area could be GCX and build a carport type over top like they do now for bus parking,etc. and presto a new depot, most have a lot of parking too. An ideal spot!

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Im not 100% sure about car dealer I just know it was mentioned in an article I read in the summer as a possible location besides 75th st and the garage...nothing was mentioned as to where! They have to make a decision by the end of the year in order to start construction on something...I would assume they would want to be out of their old depot by end of April,2016 at the absolute latest..in order to transition into a new facility!

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  • 3 weeks later...
EDMONTON - Greyhound lost its bid Monday to rezone land beside Yellowhead Trail for a possible new bus terminal.

The company needs to move out of its downtown location by May 2016 to make way for redevelopment around the new arena.

One alternative was to build a depot at Greyhound’s maintenance garage at 12521 123rd St., one of more than 30 ideas explored over the last 2-1/2 years.

But councillors agreed with community members that putting a bus station on this land would create congestion and traffic problems.

“To have a depot … in the back corner of a constrained industrial area that has limited access that will diminish over time doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Mayor Don Iveson said.

He urged city staff to continue working with Greyhound to find a station location, saying the bus line is almost an essential service.

Company lawyer Jim Murphy warned if the rezoning application was turned down, it would become costly to buy land elsewhere.

“If we don’t get this rezoning today, any other site that would do the job would immediately be rendered too expensive.”

But Dennis Dale, owner of Wayne Building Products next to the Greyhound garage, was one of a half-dozen people opposed to having a bus station in the neighbourhood.

“Tractor trailers trying to get in, trying to get out, buses trying to get in, trying to get out,” Dale said.

“Then you add hundreds of taxis, couriers — it’s going to blow up, it’s not going to work.”

Greyhound vice-president Peter Hamel said later he wants to pick a depot site by the end of the year, so time is becoming short.

“We’re going to take a look at what this means for us,” he said, adding the firm would prefer to be on the south side near its busy Edmonton-Calgary corridor.

“We’re open to any other suggestions or solutions that come to us.”

gkent@edmontonjournal.com

© Copyright © The Edmonton Journal
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Company lawyer Jim Murphy warned if the rezoning application was turned down, it would become costly to buy land elsewhere.

“If we don’t get this rezoning today, any other site that would do the job would immediately be rendered too expensive.”

This quote from the article makes me laugh. They knew was coming 2 1/2 years ago (according to the article), yet they are still dragging their feet. They need to understand that the world does not revolve around them. If I were the city, I would tell them to suffer and let them pick up/drop off on the side of the road. In all honesty, if the city has to build a bus station, should be exclusively for Greyhounds use??

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I wouldn't put it past them to be a$$es and try to turn their south depot into the main terminal. Can you imagine the traffic congestion that would cause? I think the easiest thing to do would be to look at converting a retail site that is sitting derelict because of a Safeway covenant.

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How about Via Rail site...plenty of room for a terminal even if they just do a modular style building with covered garge somethin like they have now, could even have Gcx off site.And maybe even conncet it to via rail station they only use it like 3-4 days a week so it sits their most of the time un used.

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I think with the Via site you would run into the same concerns about lack of transit service and (to a lesser extent) traffic that were present in the rezoning that was rejected Monday.

That is true about the Via site,But If Greyhound could make a deal with Via and do a sub lease on the current building I think that it would be a mutually beneficial partnership...As Via uses it very minimal like 3 days a week or so for like 4-5 hrs a day, It has the room the infrastructure is their, Lots of room to expand,.. and the station could easily be expanded to suit Greyhounds needs and Via together. Sure transit is a challenge but Im sure the City could help figure something out and broker a deal that would benefit the City,Edmonton Transit,Via and Greyhound. It would not be too terribly difficult to put a transit route past through the area, Im actually not sure why their isnt one yet, But with the New airport development im sure its coming.

Or on the alternative A former Car Dealer would be an excellent choice for a depot, very easy to convert...Service bays and parts could be converted for GCX show room could be ticket offices and passenger waITING ROOM. And build a carport overtop like they have now. presto instant depot without too much trouble.!! And lots of parking on former car lot. But is their anything like that available in Edmonton??

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