Valley Line LRT | TransEd/Marigold | City of Edmonton

This article was posted in the Metro Line thread but has lots of good info regarding VL.

City of Edmonton Valley Line West director Brian Latte said the project was on budget and on schedule as of the end of 2025.

“We’re very pleased with how this year went,” he said. “All of the intersections they have to shut down in order to run the tracks through were done on time. They had a lot of work to do along 104 Avenue.

“They were able to get a lot of the really difficult work done in one big shot. They got more work done this year than they’ve had in any other year.”

All that’s left on the Downtown front is 102 Avenue where the train turns towards MacEwan University. Latte said work on 103 Street to 107 Street will be prioritized in 2026. Cox added construction on the roads closer to West Edmonton Mall are still being planned out, so drivers on that side of the city should expect to adjust their commutes accordingly. He said intersections at 170 Street and 178 Street should expect delays this coming summer. Cox said the goal is to have all the track connected by the end of 2026.

With a tentative finishing date of 2029, Latte cautioned once the track is all laid out, testing the system could be the longest stretch.

He noted motorists will see trains moving on the tracks before the city begins allowing passengers on them.

“By this time next year, the contractor wants to have all of the track in all the way from downtown to the end of the line,” said Latte. “Together with that they’ll be putting in the power lines that run the LRT, they’ll be putting in the permeant traffic signals at all the intersections. They’ve got to run many, many tests of the line to make sure it works properly and reliably. We don’t want the train to stop running with passengers on it.

“We don’t know how long that can take. Sometimes that’s the most tricky part of getting a line up and running. So they’ll start that in 2028 with the hope we can get people riding it in 2029, but you can’t hold me to those dates. It’s all tentative depending on how all the testing and commissioning goes. You’ve got to have the system run a minimum number of times over a minimum number of weeks before you open the door to passengers.
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I get the VLW Director is being extra careful with his statements with no guarantees, but it sounds like their actual timelines are:
  • 2026: all track laid
  • 2027: wrapping up outstanding construction items and starting commissioning work
  • 2028: more commissioning + testing
  • 2029: open for public use
Which makes his statement that the project is "on-schedule" kind of ironic. Is the project really on schedule when you've adjusted the project schedule (including finish date) like four times now?
 
northlands said:
This article was posted in the Metro Line thread but has lots of good info regarding VL.



I get the VLW Director is being extra careful with his statements with no guarantees, but it sounds like their actual timelines are:
  • 2026: all track laid
  • 2027: wrapping up outstanding construction items and starting commissioning work
  • 2028: more commissioning + testing
  • 2029: open for public use
Which makes his statement that the project is "on-schedule" kind of ironic. Is the project really on schedule when you've adjusted the project schedule (including finish date) like four times now?
Click to expand...
I feel the city bureaucrats, having been burned by past missed deadlines, are trying to manage expectations here by extending the schedule so in 2028 they can claim it is completed "ahead of time". Oh the games they play.
 
northlands said:
This article was posted in the Metro Line thread but has lots of good info regarding VL.



I get the VLW Director is being extra careful with his statements with no guarantees, but it sounds like their actual timelines are:
  • 2026: all track laid
  • 2027: wrapping up outstanding construction items and starting commissioning work
  • 2028: more commissioning + testing
  • 2029: open for public use
Which makes his statement that the project is "on-schedule" kind of ironic. Is the project really on schedule when you've adjusted the project schedule (including finish date) like four times now?
Click to expand...
2028 has been and still is the target year for completion of construction for quite some time (delayed once from 2027). It was never specified that testing would also be completed within that time frame though.
 
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Just thought about something. Who actually uses the Davies park and ride? Like who would the target be?

Just looking at a map today it suddenly dawned on me how weird of a location it is. Anyone living north of the industrial is better off just driving, busing, or using the train from those neighborhoods to head downtown.

And the only areas south of the industrial are Millwoods, which is served by the train or quicker bus connections to it. The gateway/Calgary trail and east industrial lands really cut off any other residential areas.

Anyone south of Millwoods is driving 60% of the way to downtown already, so may as well just go the whole way?

I’m sure some people use it to save money on DT parking, or others use to better connect to the train vs buses. But it’s just so odd of a placement vs an end of line park and ride like century park was.

Was it chosen simply because of land availability? Wouldn’t something at the current terminus be more sensible?
 
thommyjo said:
Just thought about something. Who actually uses the Davies park and ride? Like who would the target be?

Just looking at a map today it suddenly dawned on me how weird of a location it is. Anyone living north of the industrial is better off just driving, busing, or using the train from those neighborhoods to head downtown.

And the only areas south of the industrial are Millwoods, which is served by the train or quicker bus connections to it. The gateway/Calgary trail and east industrial lands really cut off any other residential areas.

Anyone south of Millwoods is driving 60% of the way to downtown already, so may as well just go the whole way?

I’m sure some people use it to save money on DT parking, or others use to better connect to the train vs buses. But it’s just so odd of a placement vs an end of line park and ride like century park was.

Was it chosen simply because of land availability? Wouldn’t something at the current terminus be more sensible?
Click to expand...
W. P. Wagner School is close by to it, and I've seen a bunch of high schoolers by the station at school start and end times. Also, the area also has office parks (APEGA recently moved by the corner of 51 Ave and 86 St) that are a short bus ride away.
 
I think the Davies station is intended as a hub for people departing north to downtown and points beyond. Travelling on 75 Street to downtown could encounter a choke point at the CPKC tracks if a train is crossing. Taking the LRT from Davies to Bonnie Doon is probably a five-minute trip. Travelling by car could take 10-15 minutes.
 
thommyjo said:
Was it chosen simply because of land availability? Wouldn’t something at the current terminus be more sensible?
Click to expand...
Guessing you're right, the land expropriation economics and desired route worked out that it was easiest to acquire both the Union Tractor and Osman Auction parcels to build out Davies station + use the whole site to build/pour the guideways, and rather than subdivide the parcels afterward to resell for development, they figured it was cost effective to pave it over as a park'n'ride. Kind of goofy but I guess it's an option for those in the SE who work dt to use.
 
fromtraintotower said:
W. P. Wagner School is close by to it, and I've seen a bunch of high schoolers by the station at school start and end times. Also, the area also has office parks (APEGA recently moved by the corner of 51 Ave and 86 St) that are a short bus ride away.
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So it’s an overflow lot for the school?
 
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