Agenda Item No.: D.2.a.
Proposed Upgrading of 137 Avenue from 156 Street to St. Albert Trail (K. Leibovici)
Recommendation:
That the June 26, 2006, Transportation
Department report 2006TD4411 be received
for information.
Report Summary
This report responds to questions regarding
the proposed upgrading of 137 Avenue from
156 Street to St. Albert Trail.
Previous Committee Action
 At the July 4, 2006, Agenda Review
Committee meeting, the June 26, 2006,
Transportation Department report
2006TD4411 was postponed to the
August 21/22, Transportation and Public
Works Committee meeting.

At the March 14, 2006, Transportation
and Public Works Committee meeting,
Councillor K. Leibovici made the
following inquiry:
“Recently, I have had an inquiry
regarding the proposed upgrading of
137 Avenue from 156 Street to
St. Albert Trail. As a result, I would like
Administration to respond to the
following questions:
1. Do the current upgrading proposals
for 137 Avenue complement the
efforts of the City’s Industrial Land
Strategy to promote high quality
private development along arterials
roads, by including the removal of
all ditches?
2. Does the City permit nearby new
industrial parks to utilize rural style
roads with ditch drainage, driveways
with culverts, and overhead power?
Routing:
Delegation:
Written By:
June 26, 2006
File: 2006TD4411
3. Will the City develop 137 Avenue to
technical and aesthetic standards that
are equal to that required of nearby
private developments?
4. After buildings are developed along
137 Avenue, how costly and difficult
would it be to replace a deep ditch
with an adequate storm sewer in the
future?
5. Is the width of land required to
accommodate the upgrading
approximately equal on both sides of
137 Avenue, when measured from
the original government road
allowance, and will the required land
be purchased by the City?”
Report
Do the current upgrading proposals for
137 Avenue complement the efforts of the
City’s Industrial Land Strategy to
promote high quality private development
along arterials roads, by including the
removal of all ditches?
 The intent of the Industrial Land
Strategy is to ensure an adequate supply
of industrial land to accommodate
business development opportunities.
High quality developments with public
infrastructure designed and built using
fully urban standards are preferred
unless there are clear reasons why fully
urban standards are not feasible.
 Alternatives to fully urban services may
be accepted by the City where localized
conditions make fully urban services not
feasible, generally due to exceptionally
high cost. As well, alternatives to fully
urban services may be acceptable on a
short-term basis where subsequent
Transportation and Public Works Committee
R. Millican
C. Whalen/B. Stephenson
Transportation Department
(Page 1 of 2)
D
2
a
Proposed Upgrading of 137 Avenue from 156 Street to St. Albert Trail (K. Leibovici)

“upstream” development will be
required for fully urban services to be
practical.
The plan for upgrading 137 Avenue
from St. Albert Trail to 170 Street has
been reviewed based on the most recent
work of the Industrial Land Strategy and
will include the conversion from rural to
full urban standards between St. Albert
Trail and 170 Street as road widening
from four lanes to six lanes occurs. The
urban standard will initially be extended
on 137 Avenue to 149 Street with the
widening scheduled for 2007 in the
Capital Priorities Plan.
Does the City permit nearby new
industrial parks to utilize rural style
roads with ditch drainage, driveways with
culverts, and overhead power?
 Yes. The Mistatim Industrial Area
Structure Plan (ASP) area includes
buildings and infrastructure that predate
the annexation of the area to the City of
Edmonton and were built using rural
standards for infrastructure.
Development is still occurring on some
of the rural standard lots. In general,
however, Mistatim is now developing as
a modern industrial area with urban
standard infrastructure. The intent of the
City is to require fully urban standards
for new industrial parks in the Mistatim
Industrial ASP.
Will the City develop 137 Avenue to
technical and aesthetic standards that are
equal to that required of nearby private
developments?
 The technical standards of 137 Avenue,
in terms of cross-section (lane width,
multi-use trail, median), pavement
structure, lighting, and alignment of the
roadway, will be similar to other urban
arterial roadways in the city and similar
to standards being required in nearby
private development.
After buildings are developed along
137 Avenue, how costly and difficult
would it be to replace a deep ditch with
an adequate storm sewer in the future?
 The current plan for 137 Avenue is to
include storm sewer service from
St. Albert Trail to 149 Street. The storm
sewer service is planned to be extended
west in the future with widening of
137 Avenue to six lanes.
 Deferring construction of the storm
sewer and not constructing it with
roadway widening would result in the
cost of providing the storm sewer
approximately doubling.
Is the width of land required to
accommodate the upgrading
approximately equal on both sides of
137 Avenue, when measured from the
original government road allowance, and
will the required land be purchased by
the City?
 The existing right-of-way can
accommodate the future six-lane urban
roadway and therefore additional land
will not be required on either side of
137 Avenue.
Others Approving this Report
L. Benowski, General Manager, Planning
and Development Department
(Page 2 of 2)