Valley Line LRT/ Valley Line West | ?m | ?s | City of Edmonton

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Utility work and property acquisition / demolition is already underway, and construction is supposed to start next year. The procurement team selected should be announced in December.
 
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@westcoastjos I don't remember where I saw it, but someone fairly official explicitly said that's exactly the case - citizens really need to be given more realistic estimates if the city wants to maintain any trust and faith in their ability to execute large projects.
 
Aah, I see, that's unfortunate. I feel like everything I'd been reading was estimating a 2026 opening. I know we'll probably only be getting like 3-4 games here, but still seems like a big missed opportunity by the city not to have this operational in time for such a big event.
 
westcoastjos said:
Unfortunately, west LRT won't be operational until 2027. Perhaps they went with a more realistic construction schedule this time around and we will be surprised. That said, history tells me we won't be.
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That said, my personal experience with recessions + major events tells me that there's a relatively big chance that governments, in general, will pour money in things as appealing as an LRT line, for several reasons. Happened in Brazil (2014 and 2016), England (2012), among others.
Edmonton, apparently, has been trying to present itself as being, at least, as attractive and modern as our southern neighbors, and being successful in advertising the city will, most certainly, be one of the main themes we will be hearing in the following years, regarding the World Cup, and having extensive and modern transit, linking our main touristic attractions, would play a very interesting part in this.
I'm not holding my breath, but I'm moderately hopeful that there will be extra incentive$ for it to be operational by 2026 (I'd even say 2025, as we'll probably host some matches from the Club World Cup, which will replace the Confederations Cup as thr "test event" for the World Cup).
 
^one thing to add to this:
I have heard on good authority that the city is being quite conservative with time estimates (as mentioned) and also, the phasing of the project is up to the contractor. The Valley Line SE was built all at once, but the West might not be. Not knowing much about this World Cup Bid (i don't follow sports sorry) so not knowing the venues, it is conceiveable that the line is built in sections from say, DT to 149, 149 to West Ed, and West Ed to Lewis Estates is completed last. This could improve the timeline for the event as well. IDK, i am speculating here about how phasing could work, but i do know that the city is allowing contractors to plan that aspect, and is not ruling out building section by section if the logistics are better.
 
cliffapotamus said:
^one thing to add to this:
I have heard on good authority that the city is being quite conservative with time estimates (as mentioned) and also, the phasing of the project is up to the contractor. The Valley Line SE was built all at once, but the West might not be. Not knowing much about this World Cup Bid (i don't follow sports sorry) so not knowing the venues, it is conceiveable that the line is built in sections from say, DT to 149, 149 to West Ed, and West Ed to Lewis Estates is completed last. This could improve the timeline for the event as well. IDK, i am speculating here about how phasing could work, but i do know that the city is allowing contractors to plan that aspect, and is not ruling out building section by section if the logistics are better.
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I remember chatting with someone at CoE and they said that the line would be in one phase, as the extra vehicle storage and maintenance facility is needed to service even just a small expansion west. I really wish the transit garage on the SE portion was large enough to at least service until 149 street or so. This could be wrong but it is just what I heard from the city.
 
danimori said:
I remember chatting with someone at CoE and they said that the line would be in one phase, as the extra vehicle storage and maintenance facility is needed to service even just a small expansion west. I really wish the transit garage on the SE portion was large enough to at least service until 149 street or so. This could be wrong but it is just what I heard from the city.
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shit. that kinda makes sense. kinda odd that the garage is that underbuilt sigh. idk.
 
I sure hope that the World Cup discussion comes up at some point! IMO It's going to be so important that the line is done by the 2026 deadline, and not just for connecting WEM alone. Having the four main "legs" stretching out from downtown will be crucial in creating ease-of-access for the thousands of visitors that will come to our city.
 
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