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Plans to build a plethora of public spaces in Rossdale have hit a snag. A City of Edmonton report heading to the urban planning committee this week recommends delaying the project until 2019 due to site contamination and ongoing work on the soon-to-open Walterdale Bridge.
The Touch the Water Promenade aims to enhance current and future development on the north bank of the North Saskatchewan River east of the bridge and in front of the Rossdale Power Plant. City administration began engaging the public for conceptual planning in 2015, also initiating environmental assessments that progressed through 2016. Those assessments identified areas of contamination on the site, requiring further rounds of environmental assessment work through the summer. Portions of the site, set to give way to the promenade project, are also being used as laydown and staging areas for the Walterdale Bridge replacement.
"The current complexities surrounding subdivision and land remediation place unavoidable delays on the project, as advancing the public engagement for the design of the promenade, at this time, may place unachievable expectations on the project," reads the report.
The City says outstanding issues won't be complete until the last quarter of 2018 and recommend removing the $9.8 million for the project in the current 2015-2018 capital budget. Funding for Touch the Water is expected to be reallocated to the 2019-2022 budget cycle as the kinks are worked out.
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