Alberta government commits $1B for west leg Edmonton Valley Line
The province is committing about $1 billion towards Edmonton’s Valley Line West LRT expansion.
On Thursday morning, Premier Rachel Notley announced her government is putting $1.04 billion towards the west leg of the Valley Line and an additional $131 million towards the expansion of the Metro Line to Blatchford.
“For many Edmontonians, public transit is the way they connect to their neighbouring communities and in bringing communities and people together, transit makes those communities overall,” Notley said.
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Notley said investing in public transportation is an important factor in not only connecting Albertans but growing the economy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. She said the Valley Line will eliminate 4,000 tonnes of gas emissions in its first year of operation, and create 37,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Notley said funding for the LRT is coming from the province’s Climate Leadership Plan, better known as the carbon tax.
“To be very clear, there are some folks out there who want us to cancel this Climate Leadership Plan. If we listen to them, all of this construction would be stopped, all of these workers would be told to not pick up the tools but rather to put them down and look elsewhere.”
The west leg of the Valley Line will run from downtown to Lewis Farms. The entire Valley Line is a 27-kilometre route that has been split into two stages — Mill Woods to downtown, which is currently under construction, and downtown to the west end.
West LRT renders of the Misericordia Station supplied by the City of Edmonton. March 13, 2018.
West LRT renders of Glenora supplied by the City of Edmonton. March 13, 2018.
West LRT renders supplied by the City of Edmonton. March 13, 2018.
Proposed west Edmonton LRT expansion.
A map showing the route of the future Valley LRT line going past Fire Station No. 2 in downtown Edmonton.
Mayor Don Iveson said completing the west portion of the Valley Line is critical in moving ahead of “traffic congestion and growth pressure.”
“When fully built out, the Valley Line will help tens of thousands of Edmontonians move in and out of our downtown, enjoy our river valley, get to school or to appointments and travel to neighbourhoods that haven’t been well served by public transit in the past,” Iveson said.
Watch Below: Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson calls the province’s funding announcement for the west leg of the Valley Line a “historic day.”
On Tuesday, the city’s urban planning committee approved a two-way traffic final concept plan on Stony Plain Road between 149 Street and 156 Street and rejecting a contentious proposal to have a one-way street for personal vehicles on the stretch.
The final plan will result in no parking spots for vehicles on the seven-block stretch of Stony Plain Road, however, the urban planning committee indicated it believes there will be sufficient parking available on side streets.
The estimated cost of Valley Line West is $2.6 billion.
The 13-kilometre southeast leg of the Valley Line was awarded to TransEd, a consortium of companies including Bombardier and Ellis Don. The $1.8-billion project is due to open in 2020.
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