Residents of Edmonton's south side communities are growing frustrated with daily traffic congestion. People living in the areas outside the Henday describe difficult commutes on roads that struggle to handle the traffic. One resident said it was not a fun time to be stuck in it, pointing to stretches where only a single lane is available to move through. For many, the congestion has become a defining part of getting around.
City Councillor Karen Tang says the problem can no longer be ignored. She points to the daily congestion, as well as the marks left behind by filled potholes, as signs that this stretch of road needs to be widened and paved. In her view, the current arterial roads in her ward were simply not built for the booming population now living outside the Henday. The infrastructure, she argues, has not kept pace with how quickly the area has grown.
According to Tang, these roads are underfunded. She says they are not covered by community renewal and are not treated as as big a deal as the main roads. The result is that the south side stretches keep falling down the list of priorities. She frames the issue as a basic need rather than a luxury.
The councillor acknowledges that budgets are always contested. She says there are always going to be competing interests every single budget cycle. Even so, she insists that in this case she is fighting for the basics. Her argument is that residents are asking for fundamental infrastructure, not extras.
Transportation options beyond cars are also limited, according to Tang. She says the communities have a hard time getting downtown, and while there is transit service, riders simply end up stuck in the same congestion on the bus. She adds that there is not even room to prioritize bus lanes. That leaves residents with few alternatives to sitting in traffic.
For those who call these south side communities home, the hope is that crews will eventually expand the roads so they no longer have to go out of their way to avoid them. The area is clearly still growing, with more strip malls and new development continuing to build out. Supporters of the change argue that to create a so-called 15-minute city, the roads have to be expanded to match the dense and rising population on the south side. Until then, residents say the congestion will keep shaping daily life.