Stony Plain Road businesses dreading expedited construction plan for Valley Line West LRT
A series of staggered full and partial road closures to build the Valley Line West LRT has businesses in the Stony Plain Road area worried.
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.
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