Stony Plain Road businesses dreading expedited construction plan for Valley Line West LRT
Business owners made their concerns heard during Tuesday's urban planning committee meeting at city hall.
Traffic woes have already plagued the construction area along Stony Plain Road, 156th Street and 87th Avenue for several years.
More major road closures are set to come along the LRT route, as the city and project builder Marigold Infrastructure Partners start partial and full closures to speed up its construction.
With the expedited construction schedule, the LRT expansion is set to be complete in 2028.
WATCH | Some business owners worry as Edmonton wants to speed up Valley Line West construction:
Edmonton plans to speed up Valley Line West construction. But there's a catch
Duration 1:55
The City of Edmonton is looking to quicken the road construction portion of the Valley Line West project, as construction enters it's fourth year. As CBC's Travis McEwan reports, it will come with phased intersection closures until the end of November.
Restaurant El Corazon is one of many businesses that have had to deal with reduced clientele because of access cut off by construction.
"Although we can all agree that the construction needs to be expedited, closing down major intersection is not the answer," said El Corazon owner Percy Wiredu during the meeting.
"There are over 400 employees and thousands of patrons that use 142nd street to access the West Block. Road closure on 142nd Street would see job losses, significant reduction in traffic to the businesses, which ultimately would lead to business closures."
The $2.6-billion project, now in its fourth year of construction, is the largest infrastructure project the City of Edmonton has undertaken.
The accelerated roadwork plan involves a three-phase approach from April to November:
Phase 1 (April to July) 104th Avenue corridor (106th Street to 121st Street) Stony Plain Road at 124th Street (full closure) Stony Plain Road at 156th Street 87th Avenue at Meadowlark Road
Phase 2 (July to September) 104th Avenue corridor (106th Street to 121st Street) Stony Plain Road at 142nd Street 95th Avenue at 156th Street
Phase 3 (September to November) 104th Avenue corridor (106th Street to 121st Street) Stony Plain Road at 149th Street
Marian Switzer owns The Gilded Rabbit Art and Framing along 149th Street and Stony Plain Road. She's worried she'll lose half of the store's revenue with a full closure of a major intersection. (Madeleine Cummings/CBC)
Marian Switzer, another business owner in the area, said she's worried she'll lose half of her store's revenue with a full closure of a major intersection. She owns The Gilded Rabbit Art and Framing along 149th Street and Stony Plain Road
"The timing for my phase two, phase three also hits us at a really inconvenient time," Switzer said during the meeting.
"September to December is our busiest time of the store. It's where we make half of our money for the year. That's what keeps us going through the summer.
"It's been a lot. It's been COVID, construction, inflation, possible looming tariffs coming from the States."
A common concern from the business community was a lack of consultation on the part of city administration when it came to determining options that would allow for some traffic for people to check out businesses.
"The crux of the issue is that the plan completely cuts off access from all neighbourhoods to the south, as well as all traffic from both westbound and downtown, westbound from downtown and eastbound into downtown," said Stewart Fraser with land developer and builder Cantiro.
Cantiro developed the West Block, at 142nd Street and Stony Plain Road, which houses businesses like El Corazon.
"What guarantees do we have that this work will be completed in the proposed nine-week timeline? What really irks me about this plan is the blatant disregard for the directly affected stakeholders," Fraser said.
This frustration was also voiced by Mayor Amarjeet Sohi who called on administration and Marigold Infrastructure to communicate more with the business community to reach solutions that would alleviate the hit to vehicle traffic.
The push to complete roadwork is being spearheaded by Ward Nakota Isga Coun. Andrew Knack.
"I saw a lot more progress on the roads in 2024 than I did in 2022 and 2023, so let's see that multiplied instead of the first two years, which was, if I'm just being very blunt, it was disappointing," Knack said about Marigold's progress on the project.
"Let's get moving, get the work started, get it done as per that new schedule, and I think that'll be better for everyone."
Committee voted unanimously to have administration take the feedback presented during Tuesday's meeting and determine what can be done to address specific concerns.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
21 hours ago
- CBC
Carney delivers on pledge to reduce bridge, ferry costs when leaving P.E.I.
It's about to become a lot cheaper to take the Confederation Bridge or the Northumberland ferris off the Island. Prime Minister Mark Carney was in P.E.I to make good on a promise that has been years in the making. CBC's Wayne Thibodeau explains why.
a day ago
Cases of auto theft down across Canada in first half of 2025, report shows
A new report has found auto theft trends are down 19 per cent across Canada in the first half of this year, compared to the same time period in 2024. But the authors of the report say that vigilance is still needed to keep numbers coming down. It's an optimistic trend seen in provinces across the country, says the report by Équité Association, an organization that works to stop crime on behalf of the Canadian property and casualty insurance industry. The largest drops were seen in Ontario at 25.9 per cent and Quebec at 22 per cent, said the report. These provinces experienced the highest rate of theft from 2021 to 2023, when Équité said Canada was facing a national crisis in car theft. This encouraging trend in decreasing auto theft in the most affected provinces demonstrates the success of collective investments, policies and awareness campaigns, the report says. While the drop in auto theft is encouraging, Bryan Gast, vice president of investigative services at Équité Association, said it's still important for vehicle owners to stay alert and for different levels of government to continue collaborations against auto theft. This is not a victimless crime. It's not just a property crime. The proceeds of these stolen vehicles are funding organized crime and it is affecting the communities in which we live, he said. The report also found that the national rate of recovery for stolen vehicles increased to 56 per cent in the first half of this year, up from 53 per cent for the same time period in 2024. Enlarge image (new window) Created with Datawrapper Photo: CBC See interactive chart here (new window) Gast says auto theft in Canada began to spike during the COVID-19 pandemic when a supply chain issue with cars gave organized crime an opportunity to make money. The majority of the cars that are stolen are personal passenger vehicles, such as pickup trucks, sedans and SUVs, he says. He credits the drop in theft and the increase in recoveries to collaboration across different levels of government and with agencies in other provinces. That work included the creation of Ontario's auto theft team to identify crime hotspots, provincial Ministries of Transportation working to close gaps in vehicle registration processes and over $200 million in federal funding, said the report. I've never seen this collaboration, even in my 30 years of policing, work together. This is very large scale [with] multiple police services, Gast said. Phenomenal results and I think it's really showing. He also said there's been an increased emphasis to crack down on international organized crime related to auto theft in Canada. Information on any car that is stolen in Canada is sent to the Canadian Police Information Centre, which then shares that information with Interpol, Gast said. What used to go under the radar once it goes international, now it shows it's stolen. And it affects the criminal's supply and demand, he said. WATCH | A 2024 report looks at what cars are targetted by auto theft criminals: Data shows drops in auto theft across the GTA Stephanie Sayer with Toronto Police Services says the city has seen a 34 per cent drop in auto theft cases so far this year, compared to the same period in 2024. That's the result of sustained, focused efforts both within our Service and in collaboration with our policing partners across the GTA, she said. A news release from the York Regional Police said that as of June 25, they've also seen a 37 per cent decline in auto thefts so far this year compared to the same period last year. Gast says it's important for officials and car owners to be aware of the new technologies criminals could use to steal a car. He recommends people with cars always report suspicious activity, park in a garage space if possible and to always keep windows and doors locked. Drivers can also use a steering wheel lock, a pedal lock, a tracking device or an aftermarket immobilizer to protect from reprogramming attacks, Gast said. You don't have to do them all. You don't have to build your vehicle into Fort Knox. But if you could do a few layers, just to make it add more time for the criminal to steal your vehicle, he said. Arrthy Thayaparan (new window) · CBC News Arrthy Thayaparan is a Toronto-based multimedia journalist. She's interested in health, climate and community stories. She has previously worked at Reuters and CBC Vancouver. You can contact her at
CBC
a day ago
- CBC
Will Canadian, U.S. economies continue to show resilience amid trade war?
Description: CBC's senior business correspondent Peter Armstrong says the economies of Canada and the United states are showing resilience amid an ongoing trade war.
