The City of Edmonton is marking a milestone for transit in the city on Thursday, putting shovels in the ground for the Capital Line LRT south extension.
It comes as the city deals with a growing population.
Edmonton transit users at Century Park, like Penelope Siame, are eagerly awaiting the expansion of the transit system.
“I live in Allard, which is quite far (south), so it really takes a long time to get to school and get home,” said Siame.
Other transit users like Isabel Luzio say taking multiple buses can make for a long commute.
“It would definitely make it easier. Currently, it’s a lot more difficult with all the construction, it’s not very organized,” said Luzio.
That construction is work on the Capital Line South LRT extension.
The Capital Line South will run from Century Park to the Derochers/Allard neighbourhood.
The 4.5-kilometre extension will run from Century Park to the Desrochers neighbourhood. Stops include Twin Brooks, the Heritage Valley park and ride, and in the Allard.
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The city says the south was prioritized, as it’s the fastest-growing area in the city.
“This is where we see the growth, this is where we see the largest increase in planned ridership. I think it will probably be around 15,000 people a day when we open it. It will continue to grow,” said Bruce Ferguson with the City of Edmonton.
The project’s budget is $1.38 billion, which includes $365 million from the provincial government. Phase 1 will build two overpasses, one underpass and two new stations.
The high-floor LRT extension will run along the west side of 111 Street from Century Park station to the future Heritage Valley North station at the Heritage Valley Transit Centre and Park & Ride.
“We are growing as a city, we have had over 140,000 people move here in the last three years. We’re gonna be a city of 1.25 million people, projected by the end of this year. We can’t stop building transit; we can’t stop building ways for people to move,” said Edmonton city councillor Michael Janz.
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The construction is expected to take four or five years.
Coun. Janz and the construction company, Ledcor, say getting the project completed on time is a priority.
“We have to keep building, but we need to do it in a way that clearly communicates to people what you can expect, where closures are going to be. We need to make it easier and more accessible for people to plan their trips so they can plan detours, plan alternatives. It’s not just what we are doing, the construction, it’s the how we are doing it,” said Janz.
And transit riders say they hope to see the work finished as soon as possible.
“I feel like it will make my transit shorter and I wouldn’t have to take as many buses,” said Siame.
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