Across the city, the 2024 construction season can be described in one way: a burden.
Ongoing work on Edmonton's largest infrastructure project ever, the Valley Line West LRT, continues to impact drivers in ways we have never seen before. Adding to that, unrelated City and EPCOR roadworks are only making things worse by reducing lanes on corridors not already impacted by LRT construction. No other area of the city has been impacted so drastically as the west end.
In our ward, drivers from Granville to Gariepy, from Stillwater to Sherwood, have been dealing with lane closures, detours, and congestion. Over the last few months, many residents have reached out to my office to share their experiences and frustrations. Some drivers have reported that their commutes have nearly tripled as a result of construction.
As a driver, I feel your pain. As your Councillor, I am hearing you.
While the coming end of the 2024 construction season will bring relief, I know that many of you are worried the reprieve is only temporary and that things will be just as bad next year - that is a concern I share as well. Recently, Councillor Andrew Knack and I met with members of administration to discuss these concerns. We asked how the City can continue with these important projects in a way that does not have such a tremendous effect on commuters.
Administration, along with their LRT partners at Marigold Infrastructure, who are building the line, are committed to making things better, and feel the worst is already behind us. In addition to sharing more information on progress with area Councillors, they will look at ways they can be more proactive when planning roadworks in close proximity. Marigold has plans to nearly triple their workforce in 2025 to help speed things up; they are still hopeful that a majority of the roadwork portion of the project will be complete by the end of next year. That would allow them to focus on the installation of rail works, which would not have nearly as negative an impact on drivers.
Relief is coming. Improvements to the way future projects are handled are being reviewed. The end result of all of this will be a great benefit. All I can do is ask for your patience, and assure you that expanded transit and wide-open roadways are coming for west Edmonton.
If you have a recent traffic experience you would like to share with our office, you can send it to Sarah.Hamilton@Edmonton.ca. Any feedback we receive is being reviewed and submitted to City administration and Marigold Infrastructure Partners.
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