Portion of LRT's Red Line closing for 9 days

A "significant closure" of Calgary's LRT system begins Friday.

The CTrain's Red Line between City Hall/Bow Valley College station and Chinook station will be closed for nine days, starting the evening of Nov. 24 and running until the early morning of Dec. 4.

The closures are required, according to the city, to complete a phase of construction in the Victoria Park/Stampede Station rebuild project, the switch from the temporary track and platform to the new permanent track and platform.

"This is a significant closure of our system," said Doug Morgan, general manager of operational services with the city, in a release.

"We are working hard to provide alternatives, including the largest replacement shuttle service in our history, temporary park and ride locations, and parking alternatives."

The shuttle service is scheduled to depart from the following locations:

• From Chinook station to City Hall/Bow Valley College station, with stops at each of the closed stations along the way.
• From 6 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on weekdays only, express bus service will run from the Anderson and Heritage stations to downtown replacement shuttle stops along Ninth Avenue S.W. There will be no stops along the way.
• During Calgary Flames games and the Hitmen Teddy Bear Toss on Dec. 3, additional shuttles will be in place.

There will be approximately 1,000 parking spots offered for free at Heritage Park on weekdays, and the city says customers can catch the MAX Yellow to downtown or the MAX Teal to Westbrook Station with a transfer to the Blue Line to get downtown.

Motorists will also see impacts as a result of the ongoing work.

There will be periodic lane closures on northbound Macleod Trail during the closure, but all three lanes will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. each weekday.

The city says there will be approximately 600 parking spots available at the Stampede Grounds for $7 per day. From there, drivers can walk or take a Red Line replacement shuttle.

Calgary Transit says it will offer a 25-per-cent discount to all monthly pass holders in the month of December as a thank-you for customer patience during the transition. 

Transit customers will board and exit the CTrain from the new station when transit service from the Victoria Park/Stampede Station resumes on the morning of Dec. 4, according to the city.

Mark Garner, the executive director of the Calgary Downtown Association, said his main concerns are about access to the core and making sure the city sticks to its schedule.

"This is a busy part of the season. It's Christmas season. It's Black Friday. There's numerous things that are happening in the downtown. So this closure, we want to make sure that it sticks to nine days and we get back open again so people can start using transit," Garner told CBC News.