Like most North American cities, Edmonton has been putting the cart before the horse for the last half century and ten. New neighbourhoods and subdivisions have sprung to life with hardly a critical thought about how to move people and goods into and out of them, and how the additional vehicle movements would impact traffic flow and congestion.

We just seemed to think we could add more vehicles to our roads without impacting quality of life or mobility. Yet anybody who travels on Edmonton streets can experience first hand the frustrating results that such shortsighted decisions have brought us.

While many other cities around the world have been expanding their public transit systems, we’ve been busily adding road capacity. The resistance to public transit has been a powerful force in the city since the boom days that came with the discovery of oil near Leduc in 1947. Cheap, plentiful oil, readily available land and a love affair with the automobile have combined to create a sprawling city where trip lengths have increased significantly, and the road infrastructure cannot keep up with the demand.

Now, the current city council, led by a mayor determined to tackle the challenges of mobility, is reaching into the past for solutions to the future. Stephen Mandel is aiming for an ambitious expansion plan for LRT that will push new lines to NAIT and then northwest to St. Albert, south towards Edmonton International Airport, southeast to Mill Woods, northeast to Fort Saskatchewan, and into the far west end.

It’s an ambitious plan that will take $5 billion and perhaps more to make it all happen. Will it fly politically?

History shows it’s not the first time it has been tried. Forty years ago, the city council under Mayor Ivor Dent voted unanimously to push ahead with rapid transit as a way to move people efficiently and control growth. The resistance at the time was strong, and taxpayers were ready to revolt over the anticipated expenditure.

“Fix the roads, build new roads,” was the mantra of the day. There was even a plan to build a maze of freeways into the heart of the city. In 1970, consultant Louis Grimble stoked the resistance with a warning that Edmonton would become “the laughing stock of North America” if it forged ahead and built rapid transit.

Led by Dent and a council that was daring and visionary, city planners were directed to push ahead with designs for three new rapid transit lines. One would have gone from downtown south to the University of Alberta and beyond. Another would have run from what was then called the Industrial Airport to downtown and then to the exhibition grounds. A third would have traveled from the exhibition grounds east to the city limits.

The turning point came in the 1974 civic election campaign, when Dent’s bold vision of LRT lines into every quadrant of the city was rejected by voters. He was defeated by William Hawrelak, and only the northeast line from downtown to Belvedere was to be built.

That 7.25-kilometre line opened on April 22, 1978. It cost $65 million and took four years to build.

Thirty years later, the city’s LRT network reaches just 12.9 kilometres. But now it’s on the expansion track.

The newest leg, extending 7.5 kilometres south from the University of Alberta, opens in 2010. From there, it could reach out to Heritage Valley and later Edmonton International Airport.

Next up may be a line that branches off from the current one north of Churchill Station and travels to Grant MacEwan College, the Royal Alexandra Hospital and NAIT. That’s the line that could well be extended all the way to St. Albert.

The northeast line could be extended to the Gorman East area, and later to Fort Saskatchewan. A new line could branch off and head west to Lewis Estates. City transportation planners have been recommending 87th Avenue, but Mayor Stephen Mandel wants to see a line along Stony Plain Road.

While the public appetite 30 years ago was to build more roads, citizens now have a better grasp on the long term implications of doing so, and I’d wager the support for public transit is strong and getting stronger. Fuel looming near $1.50 a litre and the prospect of prices topping $2 a litre by the end of next year is pushing commuters to look at alternatives more than ever before.

All we’ve got to do is look at the demand for oil from emerging powerhouse economies in China, India, the Middle East and South American to see that gas prices are going one direction, and that direction is up. To answer the challenges of quality of life, cost and mobility, expanding light rapid transit is essential. Studies show that LRT – not buses – is the best way to get motorists to park their beloved cars.

LRT also enhances property values, as experience here and elsewhere shows. In Vancouver, for instance, proximity to the SkyTrain has an immediate impact on value of at least 30 per cent.

It really is the smartest of growth, and it makes a lot of sense.

Next week: Edmonton Transit plans for expansion.

See the transportation section on the City of Edmonton website at www.edmonton.ca for more on LRT expansion.