Edmonton's Capital Line LRT to extend south as council approves bylaw to borrow $585M

A new LRT line will link Century Park to north of Ellerslie Road in south Edmonton, but the City of Edmonton will be paying $242 million more than originally budgeted.

City council approved a bylaw Wednesday to borrow money to build the 4.5-kilometre high-floor LRT Capital Line extension. Originally, the city was to pay $343 million, but now it will spend $585 million.

At a meeting May 22 held in private, council approved the contract with Capital Line Design-Build Ltd., a member of the Ledcor Group of Companies, with AECOM as its design partner.

Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said the city needs to invest in public transit in the south part of the city, the fastest growing community in Edmonton. He added that transportation is expensive for an average household.

"Affordability and access to quality public services is at the forefront of every decision that I make sitting in this chair," Sohi said. 

"If we don't build mass transit, then we're continuing to force people to make choices, which are very, very expensive choices — which is to buy a second car or a third car."

The Capital Line extension includes an LRT underpass at 23rd Avenue, bridges across Blackmud Creek and Anthony Henday Drive, stations at Twin Brooks and Heritage Valley North and an operations and maintenance facility south of Anthony Henday Drive.

The project went to market in June 2022 to identify bidders to design and build the line. The city issued a request for proposals to the two shortlisted bidders in March.

The project is expected to cost $1.34 billion total. The federal and provincial governments are contributing $742 million combined through the joint Investing in Canada infrastructure Program (ICIP), said Bruce Ferguson, branch manager of LRT expansion and renewal.

"If the project was cancelled, then the city would lose all $742 million," Ferguson told council. 

The intergovernmental collaboration is one reason Ward Anirniq Coun. Erin Rutherford voted in favour of the project.

All three levels of government want an LRT, she said, but the federal and provincial governments "want it built within a certain spec."

Ward Nagota Isga Coun. Andrew Knack, who was a huge advocate for the Valley Line West LRT, also supports the expansion south to serve a growing population. 

"We are seeing over and over and over again, across jurisdictions across the world, that trains just move far more people," Knack said. "There's no more efficient mode right now."